Zoosh technology could make for cool future

I just got a glimpse of the future


Going public for the first time this week, Silicone Valley-based Naratte announced its new technology, which it calls Zoosh, will enable cell phones, tablets, iPods, computers, televisions, cash registers and many other computer-type devices to communicate with each other using ultrasonic technology. Zoosh literally uses the speaker on a device as a transmitter and the microphone on the other device acts as a receiver.

What does this mean to the average person?

Such communication will allow phones to become wallets, as people can make payments simply by placing their phones near a Zoosh-enabled cash register. People can also store gift cards, store loyalty cards and coupons on their devices, which can also be read upon check out.

It also allows for people to quickly exchange contact information or computer files that need to be swapped. As someone who has to think hard about how to add a contact into my cell phone, this is a much needed technology.

The technology has countless other possible uses – including ticket redemption, gym check-in and proximity-based gaming – but the big one is likely to be what takes place at the check-out counter.

Right now, I primarily use a debit card, but I would gladly welcome the opportunity to simplify that process by simply waving my phone next to the cash register. Debit cards are easy, but they can often be frustrating when the card reader asks more questions than the gas pump (Would anyone have been able to make sense of this statement 15 years ago?).

Naratte estimates contactless payments like this will reach $300 billion by 2014. That’s a staggering figure, but one I don’t doubt. Through the ages, the whole point of technology has been to make life easier for people – although I’m sure those who don’t like computers would disagree – and Zoosh seems to do that.

I was able to get a glimpse of this technology, which is scheduled for implementation in Chicago, Ill., at the end of the July, because Naratte’s chief development officer, Byron Alsberg, is a childhood friend of mine from Neshkoro I recently caught up with for the first time in nearly 14 years when I went to San Francisco in January.

Byron told me a little bit about Zoosh then, but he was limited on what he could tell me until the company was ready to go public with it. He sent me a “Launch Deck,” which is the fancy Californian phrase for “press packet” us Midwesterners won’t start using for at least another five years, outlining many of the details about his company’s endeavor.

He said other companies are coming out with technologies that will allow for similar transfer of information, but Zoosh is the only one that employs ultrasonic technology, which he said is fast, secure, reliable and, probably most importantly, inexpensive. Nearly all devices and apps will just need free updates to use it, and many vendors will be able to implement it for no cost at all, and at a max, for $30. He said many companies with popular apps are currently in the process of integrating Zoosh into them.

Hopefully this future isn’t too scary for people. I did ask Byron if he knew when Skynet will go online. He didn’t have an answer, but he did say all of his company’s software does carry Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics inside. I’m pretty sure Skynet’s technology did too, though.

Oh well. Life could literally be a blast with a robot-started nuclear holocaust.
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Originally published in The Portage County Gazette on Friday, June 24, 2011.