The Visidot, essentially, is the development in bar-code readers. But those developments seem to bring it closer to capabilities and functions of RFID technology. While Visidot’s primary image identification system involves color-based symbols, it’s also equipped to read 2D bar codes.

But it also offers more functionality than standard bar-code systems.

For instance:

Go for the long one — Visidot has much broader and longer scanning range, up to 150 meters (about 450 feet).

Any which way is up — traditional bar-code scanners can only read bar codes if they’re accessibly oriented.

Done in a flash — Visidot proponents say a full pallet of bar-coded cases can be read in one flash, which takes about a second.

While the Visidot still requires a line of sight — giving RFID one advantage — the new system can read multiple bar codes at a time.

Example: A pallet of goods with unique serial numbers is assembled. A sheet listing those serial numbers is printed and attached to the pallet. When a Visidot reader passes over this pallet, all of the serial numbers are captured for accuracy comparison.

One more advantage over traditoinal bar-code reading: If there’s a damaged bar code, the Visidot reader will detect it and inform the system operator.