This technology matches smartphones through the camera

It is possible to pair multiple devices at once thanks to a pattern of colors and lights

  Newly established NFC technology, wireless technology, US researchers have developed an information exchange system based on a camera and light beams.

This is the functioning of Capcam, created by a researcher from Carnegie Mellon University (USA). The system matches mobile devices with the user's touchscreen when put together. A touch screen can track devices as they move over their surface, while the devices extract data by reading a pattern of blinking colors.

  The union of the devices with this novel system is done through the contact of both mobile screens. This software allows you to detect the location of the device.

It begins to emit a unique pattern of flashing colors under the device, which contains pairing instructions. The smartphone, which must also have the CapCam software installed, uses its camera to detect the color pattern and establish a wireless connection. It is possible to pair multiple devices at once, and you can still interact with the screens with your hands.

The strategy of the lights to match devices and the touch screens to track them had already been used. But CapCam is unique in combining the two techniques.

The team at Carnegie Mellon University now wants to find a business partner interested in licensing the technology. It should work on many existing devices, so it would be possible to distribute it as a downloadable app.