Unlike so many other low-tech options we’ve seen fall, it does not seem like business cards are going away. These days it seems shockingly old-fashioned to still have to take a piece of paper with somebody’s contact info, but people opinion maintains that the digital options, such as Google’s “Bump” app, are even worse. Which is why MIT startup TouchBase Technologies has proposed a new model business card, one that combines all the best qualities of a traditional business card with the ease and convenience digital cards have been lacking.
While there has definitely been attempts to digitize business cards and the information they carry, none of the apps have been as popular as planned. Google’s Android Beam is an option but is incompatible with iPhones, making it poor for business, and their Bump app was not nearly as successful as they wished.
After realizing that business cards were one of the few lo-fi inventions that would be hanging around, TouchBase utilized the power of conductive ink to make an old favorite new: embedded with circuitry made out of conductive ink—made to mimic a fingerprint’s natural electronic signal—a TouchBase business card only has to be tapped against your smartphone’s screen for a matter of seconds in order for its information to transfer. Easy as that.
What’s more, the information is not simply stored on the card: TouchBase’s business cards route your phone to a digital profile of the cardholder once they’re tapped against the screen, one that lists their contact information, links to social and professional media like Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook, photos and videos of projects, and the holder’s photo. It certainly gives users access to much more information than any such app before.
However, even TouchBase’s approach is not without flaws. The card’s trial technology is currently limited to the iPhone 5, 5S and 5C, and still cannot export information directly to your phone’s Contacts. Furthermore, due to its embedded circuitry the card is inflexible, meaning users would have to remove their iPhone’s case in order to lay it flat against the screen. According to Mashable TouchBase already has plans to fix these issues, developing a new app for Android and a more flexible card as we speak.
Like many startups today, TouchBase’s business card is being funded through crowdsourcing, with its Indiegogo campaign at half of its $30,000 goal. The campaign will end on March 15, so if you’d like to contribute now would be the time.
Source Mashable
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