What the heck are QR Codes? A QR Code (or Quick Response code) is a matrix style graphical code similar to a bar code, invented by the Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994, as seen in the example. They can be read using a scanner and most recently by cameras on mobile phones with special software apps.
Originally designed to track parts in warehouses, they have since become very popular in Japan in much broader contexts, where they are used for huge mobile advertising campaigns.
Since QR codes can embed all types of data, they are now being used to contain URLs, messages, personal contact data and most recently as hyperlinks to identify objects in the physical world.
QR Codes have been big in Japan due to the fact that the mobile devices there are already equipped to read them. They use them everywhere, on billboards, vending machines, websites, advertising, even popular fashion, but up until now, the west has been slow to adapt due to mobile technology restraints.
All of that is all about to change though. [click to read more…]
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