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Posts Tagged ‘Japanese’

Usage of QR code – Quick Response bar code

August 7th, 2009

My first encounter with the QR code was my prize from Google.

A QR (Quick Response) Code is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code) created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994 to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed and also can store more information than our usual bar code.

If you’ve been to Japan, I guess the QR code wouldn’t be something new to you. It is very popular in Japan and businesses are putting the QR codes onto their advertisements or banners for a wider reach to their consumers or audience.

How is it used?

Just check out this video and you’ll understand, even if you don’t understand Japanese. 🙂

qrcode_disney

It’s indeed quite popular in Japan, and the video below from Cliffano Subagio shows how commuters scans the QR code from posters.

Other examples of QR code usage

It can be used to store the website address so your phone can redirect to a certain URL. (My shirt actually reads code.google.com)

qrcode_burgerwrapper

It might also contain nutritional information of a particular food product.

qrcode_takeawaybag

Putting a QR code on a billboard or posters as a link for people to ‘find out more’.

qrcode_ads

QR Code Sand Castle, by Sinap:

sinap-sand-castle-qr-code-2

The future of URL shortener
URL shortener services like tinyurl.com and bit.ly are extremely useful to convert a lengthy URL to a short one for distribution.

With QR code, it can do the same, plus easier on mobile phone. Load up the QR code scanner from your mobile phone, scan the code, and automatically redirects you to the website.

I can see that it is especially useful for mobile applications. How do you search or download a mobile application with a URL? Instead of typing the entire URL, you can just scan the QR code and download the application directly, just like a demo with the following video:

QR code generator

You can easily generate QR code images online with the QR Code Generator from the ZXing Project.

qrcode_zxing

For the above source code, it is open sourced and can be downloaded from http://code.google.com/p/zxing/.

QR code reader

You can download the Barcode Scanner for Android-powered devices by following this Google Mobile Guide.

Remember to keep this QR code :

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