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Wikifoodia

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This is a proposal for a new Wikimedia sister project.
Wikifoodia
Status of the proposal
Statusrejected
Reasonno support. Pecopteris (talk) 03:52, 20 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Technical requirements

wikifoodia.org with barcode scanner apps — Tools to help you to avoid dangerous food products already in the store

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The products in the store ...
... which can be scanned and included in a web-address so that you can get a second opinion already in the store.


Why?

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The idea

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Basically the idea consists of two parts:

  • A wiki site where products are stored under their barcode number. This will hopefully describe the product in a less biased way than the manufacturers own description of it.
  • A barcode scanner app (shopper app) which means that shoppers can scan the products, and can already in the store read this information.

The scanner app

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The idea is that the scanner app scans the code, say 123456789, the app adds it to a url like so: http://wikifoodia.org/123456789 and opens it in a browser.

When finished reading the shopper hits the back button and can immediately scan the next item.

Stock apps
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Here is the apps that I've tested so far (june 2016):

Apps that can be used (as described above):

Android:

iPhone:

  • "QR Reader for iPhone" (TapMedia Ltd)

Apps that can not be used:

iPhone:

  • Bakodo
Custom apps
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The drawback with a stock scanner is that they aren't as streamlined as they could be. The shopper has to enter the url in the settings, and they offers lots of other functionality and buttons that I see a small risk of confusion, errors and frustration among new users.

If one's going to develop a custom app, I searched for "android barcode scanner library" and "iphone barcode scanner library" and there are several "programming libraries" that seem well embraced.

Web app
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After a little bit or research: barcode_scanner_web_app, I've unfortunately found that the technology isn't mature yet (as of September 2015). The problem is that on most devices the camera would only work with fixed focus (not auto focus which is needed at close range).

Other notes

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As for myself (Magnus Andersson) developing streamlined apps:

I have no experience with iPhone apps and only very little experience of Android apps so I don't intend to commit myself there.

Someone might say that lobbyists might take over the wiki-site, but then anyone can set up a new wiki-site and copy the content, and the shoppers can switch to whichever wiki they trust the most.

See also

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Discussion

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