Tony RodriguezChief Technologist, Digimarc

It should be easier to buy shoes on the subway. Tony Rodriguez might be the first person to advance that notion, but he's also among the first to actually do something about it. As Digimarc's chief technologist, he develops “digital watermark” technology that can be embedded imperceptibly in print materials and read by mobile devices to facilitate m-commerce. So when he's reading a magazine on the subway and spots an ad for sneakers, he can snap a picture of it with his camera phone, and a few clicks later, he owns them. And that's just the beginning.

“Digital watermarks can exist in any kind of media, whether it's audio, video, fabric, wood grain on a desk — anything that supports noise,” Rodriguez said. “You could arrive at a situation where, by simply turning on your camera phone, the device understands that, for example, you're at a NASCAR race.”

But even shoe-shopping on the A-train will take a while to arrive. Digimarc demonstrated three applications — downloading a ring tone from a CD jacket, placing a mobile catalog order and buying movie tickets from a movie poster — at the DemoMobile show last month. But it may not make the American market until 2006 or later.

The company's first stop is Tokyo, where mobile camera users already get directions from bar codes in the back seats of taxis. Digimarc's Japanese trial, through e-commerce firm Mediagrid, begins in the fourth quarter. After that, the U.S. will follow South Korea and Europe. And although Digimarc is talking with Intel and domestic service providers, it's not clear what sort of entity the company might pick as a U.S. partner.

“We identify the partner within a particular market that understands that market's cultural dynamics,” Rodriguez said. “The partner that understands content and e-commerce, already has those relationships and has commercialization or development experience on the mobile device.”

In other words, the kind of company you could find at a NASCAR race. Or on the subway.