Most of you have probably heard of two-dimensional (2D) barcodes. The regular 1D barcodes, like you find on supermarket items can only record 20 characters, usually numbers that correspond to a record in a database to provide further information. 2D barcodes can record up to 7089 characters and thus can record much more information in themselves generally negating the need for an outside database to access.  They are becoming more popular as ways to describe web addresses and also to provide  brief biographies of people, businesses and services. Any smart phone has an application either built-in or readily available that can scan these barcodes. 

This is the 2D barcode for the City of Tea Tree Gully Council's website

So what happens when you turn a book into 2D barcodes?
Well it looks like this page does: This is a 2D barcode record of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Probably not the easiest way to read this book, but it’s a great demonstration of the technology.

Reading a book using a smart phone and 2D barcodes