QR Code For /Message

Reston: I have bumped into this odd square pixelated graphic on a few blogs recently, and I didn't know what it was until now.

It's a Quick Response (QR) code, designed to work with camera phones that have a QR reader installed.

Here's the QR code for /Message, generated by the folks at Kaywa:

QR-Code Generator, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

Here's a cartoon to explain it all.

The Kaywa Reader, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

I guess I will have to figure out how to get that on my Moo cards. I also want the tshirt (here, mocked up on Instructables):

Encode data in 2D on your T-shirts, business cards and stickers ! - Instructables - DIY, How To, craft, offbeat, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

I have started to photograph business cards, and then throw them away, uploading the images to Flickr. This will fit right into that pattern, if people start putting QR codes on them.

Comments

[IB]

The QR code was developed at DENSO ., It's used a lot in Japan and other asian countries where asian characters need to be in stored in a Barcode. As you have noticed you can photograph a QRcode at a subway and directly go to a website or store the business card into your contact manager (Very difficult to type Non-QUERY asian charecters into your phones contact manager otherwise)

If you're not storing asian characters consider using DataMatrix instead., it will be more efficient in everyway. But you cannot use it for Kanji and such with DataMatrix efficiently.

[Rainer]

Hi Stowe,
there is also an alternative called Shotcode. Same thing. But the little dotted things look rather nice (http://www.flickr.com/photos/shotcode/2108700686/) - Their website doesn't though. Ugly as can be Web2.0 Photoshop template ;-) http://www.shotcode.com/
cheers,
Rainer

[Carsten Hinze]

I remember seeing QR a lot some three years ago in Japan. When I tried to generate some code of my own, I had trouble finding the software back then. A small application - all in Japanese - was the best I could get for download somewhere on the net. The generated code I sent to a friend in Japan to check if it really worked.

Now the Swiss postal service, that also still runs buses for public transport in remote areas, tested 2D-barcodes in 2007 for geo-tagging sign-posts in the Appenzell region. Hikers could scan the code and receive the location of the closest bus stop as well as the departure time for the next three buses. There system, BeeTagg, can be found in many more places in Switzerland now. It is even utilized on stamps.

[Kevin Lim]

Hello Stowe, I recently adopted QR Codes for my blog posts. I even use a QR Code as my Facebook profile photo so people can just snap and go.

Strangely, most people who saw it thought it was an artifact from those Japanese porn videos; they didn't realize it was a two-dimensional barcode!

I currently use a jailbroken iPhone running iMatrix, which reads these codes and lets you pull up URLs, text and so on. I'm lovin' it!

[streetstylz]

Give the NeoReader a try :)

It is able to read and decipher all common non-proprietary 2D codes (Data Matrix, QR, Aztec, Maxi) as well as URL embedded 2D codes and all 1D UPC/EAN/Code 128 open source codes. The NeoReader supports direct and indirect code linking, which guarantees maximum interoperability with already existing platforms like 2D Data Matrix Semacodes, and Japanese QR links. This allows the user to click on a variety of codes with a single application installed on their mobile device.

http://www.neoreader.com