Student project can scan your veal and scold you for it
Students at UC Berkeley are working on an experimental system called iBuyRight, which uses a cameraphone to send a picture of a product's UPC barcode to a server to guilt-trip the user on "social, environmental and health issues" related to the product. The idea, the students say, is to empower consumers at the point of sale to make more socially conscious decisions before they buy -- decidedly a different demographic than the conceptually similar Vivid/xobile barcode capture system. Something tells us, though, that if you're already at the Hummer dealer getting ready to sign the paperwork, you're not going to be swayed by a bunch of text messages telling you to buy a Prius.
