QR Codes
If you've found a strange square pattern on one of our shipping parcels, books, business cards or our website, you may be wondering what you're looking at.
QR (Quick Response) barcodes are 2-dimensional digital codes which can be read by the camera in a mobile phone, and contain text or data which the phone can process; for example a web address, phone number or vCard contact entry. QR was designed by Denso Wave Corp. of Japan and is an international open standard, so anyone can make the codes, or write software to make and read them. Acceptance of QR in Europe and the US is limited so far, but in Japan it's part of everyday life, with product packaging, street signs and TV ads all showing codes.
QR codes are local - the data is stored within those little dots - and have error correction so a bit of the code can be damaged and it'll still scan. Your phone doesn't have to look up the code in an online database, so nobody knows you've scanned it unless you want them to. If the code links to a website or email address, the scanner software will ask if you want to open your normal browser or mail application. It's impossible to include a virus in a QR code, and your scanner will always show you the address of the website before taking you there.
If you have a mobile phone with a camera and web access, you can install software to scan the codes, usually for free. Many new Nokia handsets have a QR reader pre-installed, and several versions are available for Symbian, Windows Mobile and iPhone platforms. To find a reader for your phone, simply visit this link and enter your details. We always recommend choosing the Quickmark reader if possible, as it has support for several extra features within the QR code that other readers don't, such as encrypted messages. For more info on the potential for secure QR and QM codes, visit our blog.
UVSAR and QR
Whilst we of course use QR to link to our website from physical items like books, we are firm believers in using the technology for something other than advertising. QR can make many aspects of workplace asset tracking, data collection and maintenance far easier and more reliable than copying things onto paper forms, because a QR code either scans or it doesn't. Errors in the decoding process are so rare we've yet to find one.
The biggest potential for QR codes is when they interface to a website database system. Scan a harness inspection label and not only will you not get the wrong serial number, but the code can tell your phone to automatically log on to the company website and retrieve the inspection history, or add a new entry. You can protect the code from unauthorised use by password-protecting the website and/or encrypting the code itself.
Document tracking, booking on and off sites, verification of certificates and ID badges, all are possible with a dash of QR.
Of course, QR is not all work, work, work - they're fun and informative too. Codes can be used to link to prize draws (Pepsi used them in the UK in 2008/2009), and in Japan the funny-message-on-a-t-shirt is nothing compared to the QR coded version. Semapedia is set on hotlinking the real world - print out a sticker with a QR code to link something to the Wikipedia page about it, from a famous landmark to a famous person (good luck with the chase in the latter example), and visitors can get instant access to all the information they need.
Making your own QR codes
The best free QR generators are those at Google ZXing and Quickmark DIY. They both let you build a code for different types of data (from plain text to vCards, and in the case of Quickmark even images and encrypted messages) and download the code as an image file to print or post on your website. In general, for close-up scanning with a mobile phone you should print the code so each little black square is at least 0.8mm wide - though you can paint them on the side of a building or mow them into a field, and scan them from miles away! We'd advise against putting one on the back of your van, as tempting though it may be, you're asking the person behind you to use their phone while driving. Your insurer may wonder why they crashed into you.
QR is here to stay, and it won't be very long before they're as common in Europe as they are in Asia. Resistance is futile.
