QR codes have been popping up all over the place lately — on business cards, our clothes, our stools on beer mugs, and even on the wall. But do you know where the QR code came from and why it was invented? We do some investigating and also discover some ways you could put QR to use in your home.
The 'QR' in the QR code stands for 'Quick Response,' but it wasn't developed by parademics for use in the ER. It actually was invented by a subsidiary of Toyota to rapidly track cars and parts in automotive manufacturing plants.
Unlike a traditional barcode, QR codes are actually read by image sensors like those found in your digital camera. A snapshot is taken and the three corner squares are used to decipher the angle and orientation of the code. A program then analyzes the rest of the pixel arrangement to decipher the message. The codes are highly customizable and can be configured for a virtually infinite amount of unique combinations. Are these of any use to us in the home, though?
Well, we have posted a few interesting and creative uses of QR codes before; for tracking inventory on your moving boxes and for photo sharing at an event. Another way to use them could be on food placards for your next dinner party.
It may be a little too geeky for most, but yours truly went through the trouble of putting them on each item prepared for a dinner party. If guests wanted the recipe, they could just scan the card and get directed to a link they could save or email so they could make it at home again later.
Have you geeked out and used QR codes in the home? What creative uses have you thought of?
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Good grief.
Double Griffin. This would make me dizzy and ill to my stomach. I'm not a fan of still life art but I'd rather have that than what is posted here.
I heard a radio spot on these and how no one usually bothers to scan them, even if they do have a phone that can do so. Lame technology, imo. And a great way to spread malware (though I'm not trying to imply you would do that to your dinner guests!)
No thank you.
I appreciate the thought behind giving guests a way to get the recipes besides the fuss of printing them out.....but that's an awful lot of work for convenience. While I see them all over the place, it's rarely at a place where I have time to scan them and get the additional information.
Personally I don't use them anywhere but in art galleries. They tend to be helpful to remember a piece, if you like more info about it and not clutter up the wall space around it. Unless, you actually make one out of wood: http://artstallations.com/qr
I saw them years back in Tokyo and I saw people scanning them too. I don't think they've caught on here though.
Never came across anything I wanted to know to use this.
I recently cooked for a large group of people at a Sci-Fi convention, and a lot of people donated equipment like coolers and slow cookers to the effort. To keep it all straight, I printed out labels with QR codes redirecting to each donor's Facebook profile, and stuck them on the donated pieces. At-a-glance privacy was maintained, but if a piece went home with the wrong nerd, a quick scan would find its rightful owner.
"...where the QR code came from and why it was invented?"
Who cares? It's ugly.
I like it.
I had to think and think, but I came up with a way to like this: Imagine the bar code as the modern-day descendant of the dangling price tag on Minnie Pearl's hat, and suddenly it has a link to something that was charming and whimsical instead of techno and overgadgetized.
I really like QR codes. They have been slow to catch on, but they offer so much potential!! The idea of using them to link guests to recipes is a great idea, especially if you are using a recipe from a blog or recipe site. It can generate additional traffic to the blog or site, and it makes it so much easier for friends and family to get an copy of the recipe immediately. Granted, I'm slower than most to follow up with information like that :-). I've personally used them when developing programs for both youth and adults. For kids there are some great ideas on the internet for using QR codes with scavenger hunts - old-fashioned scavenger hunts, not Internet-based hunts - and it's such a fun way to provide clues. They are also really great on nature hikes for providing additional information about plants, etc.
Thank you for sharing another great use for QR codes!!
I've tried scanning QRs several times when I've been in businesses with placards which tell me that I'll be guided to their facebook page, so I may "like" them. When it works, it is a really quick link. Trouble is, sometimes they will scan, other times they won't. The odd thing is that my phone tends to get really hot when I'm scanning a QR, not sure why, but it makes me less inclined to use the app.