We love this one!
James Patten, a PhD Candidate in the Tangible Media Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab has come up with a "Corporate Fallout Detector" that scans the barcode on consumer products and emits a Geiger-counter-like sound of varying intensity based on the social or environmental record of the manufacturer.
The hand-held device is made from a barcode scanner in an old computer case that also contains pollution and corporate ethics databases on which to base its judgement.
Why did he do it? "It's difficult for consumers trace corporate actions through the maze of corporate ownership, and find who is really responsible," he says.
A prize awaits the first person to get hold of one of these and go round a supermarket scanning breakfast cereal packets . . .
