PORT TOWNSEND — Visitors to Port Townsend can now scan the city with more than just the naked eye.
Last week, a handful of barcodes — which literally can be scanned — were placed in locations throughout town in what’s called the Way Finder Project.
Using a cell phone with Internet access and a camera, you can walk up to a code, scan it and pull up a Web site about the location.
The newly dedicated Port Townsend Visitors Information Center, at the Haines Place Park and Ride near Safeway, is the most prolific location where a code has been placed.
Intellicheck Mobilisa, the Port Townsend-based technology company known for its barcode identification scanners at military bases, provided the city with its first code and access point free of charge.
The two are currently working on the next step.
What you need
To use the barcodes, you need a mobile phone with a camera and Internet access.
Using the phone’s Web browser, visit http://www.mobilisa.net for instructions on downloading the barcode application.
Once downloaded, open the application and take a photo of the code.
The photo is analyzed by the application and directs you to the Web site for the code that was scanned.
In the case of the code at the visitor center, the application directs you to a Web site directory for local lodging and restaurants.
From there, you can learn about specific locations and call them up to make reservations.
Business hours
The city soon hopes to have individual codes for each business, allowing people to learn hours of operation, what the business does, information on sales items and even the history of the building.
Jennifer MacGillonie, interim director of the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce, said more codes have been mailed to business owners who are members of the chamber to put up at their discretion.
“Right now, people are still very curious about it,” MacGillonie said.
“This is something new and interesting, not just for Port Townsend, but for this entire area.”
According to City Marketing Director Christina Pivarnik, it’s new for most of the United States.
“It’s heavily used in places in Europe and Asia,” Pivarnik said.
“But this is new technology here.”
First in the state?
Pivarnik said she wasn’t sure how many other locations in the United States were using it.
“We’re pretty sure it’s the first city in the state of Washington to use it,” she said.
“And it’s probably one of the first on the West Coast.
“While we don’t have any information on that, we do know we’re on the leading edge with this technology in the United States.”
The technology was discovered by City Manager David Timmons.
“I saw an article about a small town in Texas that had adapted the technology for their public works department,” Timmons said.
“It’s a different way of doing business.”
Timmons said beyond using the codes for tourism and general way-finding, he sees an opportunity to streamline information for city employees.
“Street crews could use it to activate information on facilities,” he said.
“Another application is for public safety. When officers respond to a building, they can get info on the location, the alarm information and who the main contact Is for the location.
“This cuts out the radio work and the dispatch time.”
And while that might be a few years down the road, the way-finding system might be ready much sooner.
“This is just the first part,” Pivarnik said.
“We have plans to continue working with local businesses to implement these codes.”
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
