PaperDisk is a novel and powerful technology that connects printed documents to the world of digital information. It forges this link by storing and communicating digital data via the printed page.

PaperDisk is remarkably easy to use. You select a number of computer files, and PaperDisk will print out special patterns representing them. Below is an example of these patterns, referred to as DataTile(TM) patterns (DataTiles may be many times smaller, and many times larger, as needed, carrying anywhere from a few bytes to a megabyte or more):

These patterns can then be inserted into documents, and the documents distributed through their usual channels. The reader of the document then acquires these patterns with an ordinary scanner, and PaperDisk will extract and store the original files on the reader's PC.

PaperDisk technology has been ported to a variety of mobile devices, including the Nokia 6680 series, the 3650, and the 7650, as well as a Smartphone, and can also be employed on a webcam.

PaperDisk delivers ANY kind of computer file, and in its original pristine state, perfect to the last bit. If the file is, say, a word processing file, then it will arise on the recipient's screen with all fonts, formatting and text perfect. If a printed document refers to information in a database or in a spread sheet, PaperDisk can print those files along with the document, so that the reader can browse or manipulate them. If the document has a help facility associated with it, that help facility can be included.

The files themselves can be encrypted, so that no one can read the information on the printed page unless they possess the password. This makes it possible to include information in a report that might conventionally be left out because it is confidential. It also allows one to send faxes that are -- either in part or entirely -- confidential, without concern about who may be present at the receiving end to view the fax.

PaperDisk opens up whole new possibilities, including:

• When you send documents, send both the physical document and
  the underlying computer file.
  
• Add a wealth of information to your business to your business
  cards - include your name, company, telephone directories, dialing
  software, product listings, and descriptions, your picture and
  a sound file with you pronouncing your name.
  
• Save money by sending a summary of a document, along with
  a PaperDisk file containing the entire document, graphics, audio
  clips, worksheets, and supporting data and documents.
  
• Backup your computer files to paper. You will always know
  where to find a document's underlying computer file - it will
  be attached to the document itself.
  
• When you print forms, also print the word processing file
  so that users can fill out and print the forms from their computers.
  

For more information on the PaperDisk technology also see:
Paper presented at US Postal Service Technology Conference in 1996
This paper includes discussion describing a new paradigm of user interface, in which 2D bar codes serve as hyperlinks from the physical world to the digital world, which, to the best of our knowledge, is the first such public description of this revolutionary paradigm.