Real-Time Streaming Communication With Optical Codes

Optical codes have long been used to carry small amounts of static data, such as URLs, IDs or other short binary sequences. In this paper, we experiment on the use of sequences of optical codes to form a one-way communication channel. In this context, a sender is made of a surface displaying rapidly changing codes, which are picked up by a receiver's camera and converted back into a binary data stream. After presenting experimental results seeking the combination of frame rate, code size, and error correction level maximizing effective bandwidth, we describe the implementation of a robust communication protocol designed, specifically for lossy, simplex, and low-bandwidth data links. Our findings indicate that such a protocol is sufficient for carrying at least voice-quality audio in real time.