A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a type of matrix bar code (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and large storage capacity compared to traditional UPC bar codes The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of four standardized kinds ("modes") of data (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary), or by supported extensions virtually any kind of data. The technology has seen frequent use in the United Kingdom and the United States; QR usage is growing fastest in Canada and Hong Kong. QR code was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 to track vehicles during the manufacturing process, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional bar codes It was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.
Keywords: Quick Response (QR) Code, 2D Bar Code, Mobile Tagging, URL
Introduction:
Quick Response (QR) codes are versatile. A piece of long multilingual text, a linked URL, an automated SMS message, a business card or just about any information can be embedded into the two-dimensional bar code Coupled with moderate equipped mobile devices, QR Codes can connect the users to the information quickly and easily.
In this paper, I explore the QR Codes with its Applications. QR Codes are two-dimensional bar codes that can contain any alphanumeric text and often feature URLs that direct users to sites where they can learn about an object or place (a practice known as ―mobile tagging‖). Decoding software on tools such as camera phones interprets the codes, which represent considerably more information than a one-dimensional code of similar size. The codes are increasingly found in places such as product labels, billboards, and buildings, inviting passers-by to pull out their mobile phones and uncover the encoded information. Codes can provide tracking information for products in industry, routing data on a mailing label, or contact information on a business card. Small in size, the code pattern can be hidden or integrated into an esthetically attractive image in newspapers, magazines, or clothing. In physical learning spaces, QR codes might also be effective repositories of data in problem-solving activities involving role play or alternate reality games (ARGs).
The Background of QR Code development:
In 1970, IBM developed UPC symbols consisting of 13 digits of numbers to enable automatic input into computers. These UPC symbols are still widely used for Point-Of-Sale (POS) system. In 1974, Code 39 which can encode (symbolize) approx. 30 digits of alphanumeric characters was developed. Then in the early 1980s, multistage symbol codes where approx. 100 digits of characters can be stored such as Code 16K and Code 49 were developed. As information rapidly developed in the recent years, requests had mounted for symbols which can store more information and represent languages other than English. To enable this, a symbol with even higher density than multistage symbols was required. As a result, QR Code, which can contain 7,000 digits of characters at maximum including Kanji characters (Chinese characters used in Japan), was developed in 1994.
QR Code is a matrix symbol which has been developed as the one enabling all of high capacity PDF417, high density printing of data matrix, and high speed reading of maxi code based on the research made on their characteristics.
Two-dimensional symbols generally contain much more data amount when compared with linear symbols (approx.100 times more), and therefore require much longer data processing time and more complex process. Therefore, QR Code has had much consideration for its finder pattern to enable high-speed reading.
Characteristics of the QR Code:
- All-Direction (360°) High-Speed Reading.
- Resistant to Distorted Symbols.
- Data Restoration Functionality (Resistant to Smudged or Damaged Symbols).
- Efficiently Encoding of Kanji and Kana Characters.
- Linking Functionality of the Symbols.
- Masking Process.
- The Confidentiality of the Code.
- Direct Marking.
Different Kinds of QR Codes:
The QR Code Family includes two type of codes: Online and Offline Codes.
ONLINE CODES: Online Codes point to an internet address and require an internet connection. Kaywa has three sorts of online QR Codes: Short Code, URL, and Short Code URL. The best choice is certainly the Short Code URL, as it can be read by all QR Code Readers worldwide.
OFFLINE CODES: Offline Codes do not need an internet connection (= data traffic costs) and are directly resolved on the phone. You can encode things like addresses, text, SMS and telephone numbers.
The QR Code Structure:
QR Code is a matrix type symbol with a cell structure arranged in a square. It consists of the functionality patterns for making reading easy and the data area where the data is stored. QR Code has finder patterns, alignment patterns, timing patterns, and a quiet zone.
a) Finder Pattern: A pattern for etecting the position of the QR Code.
b) Alignment Pattern: A pattern for correcting the distortion of the QR Code.
c) Timing Pattern: A pattern for identifying the central coordinate of each cell in the QR Code with black and white patterns arranged alternately.
d) Quiet Zone: A margin space necessary for reading the QR Code.
e) Data Area: The QR Code data will be stored (encoded) into the data area.
Real-Time Examples of QR Code Applications:
- QR Code Used For Stationery Order System
- QR Code Used For Bus Commuters Pass Issuing System
- QR Code Used For Betting Ticket Management
- QR Code Used For Passenger Management
- QR Code Used For Patient Identification in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore
- QR Code Used For Blood Test Process Management in Australia
- QR Code Used For LPG Cylinder Bottle Management in Australia
- QR Code Used For Jewellery Certification System in China
- QR Code Application in a Jewellery Shop in France
- QR Code Application in Agriculture in Taiwan
- QR Code Application in Telecom Company As A Basis of eBusiness in Taiwan
The Indian side of QR- Some Examples:
QR codes—if promoted correctly—offer the potential of being very useful and popular in India too. India has a very large number of mobile phones users, many of whose instruments are also camera phones. This number is expected to increase in the future. Also, India is a country of many languages and owing to its diverse challenges, throws up interesting opportunities. Here are a few scenarios for developing some out-of-the-box applications using QR codes:
1. Hyderabad is a city where Telugu, Hindi, Urdu and English are all important languages. You may be looking at a poster at Ameerpet that is about an Ayurvedic Hospital somewhere in Andhra Pradesh. You may want to learn more about it, but are unable to do so as the text in the hoarding is in a language that you cannot read. But what if the bottom of the poster contained four distinct QR codes — one each for Hindi, Urdu, English and Tamil? Well, you would just need to point your phone towards the QR code and read the information in the language of your choice.
2. You are driving by and you suddenly spot a real estate project coming up in the city. There are some contact details that you may like to note down but cannot do so as you are driving. Well, if the board has QR codes, you can quickly point your phone towards the QR code and store the information, which you can read when you have the time.
3. The government pays a large amount to a newspaper for an advertisement about vacancies in the railways, which includes an application form. The advertiser can include QR codes that include an electronic application form in any language, because QR codes support binary data as well.
4. You are looking at the classified section of a leading newspaper in Delhi and the interesting graphics grab your attention. The graphics also happen to be a QR code, enabling the advertiser to pack in far more product details into an advertisement for the cost of the same space.
5. Thanks to QR codes, you will be able to include a multimedia presentation about your business on the back of your business card, in the form of an image.
6. Murugan, an illiterate fisherman from Tamil Nadu, can neither read nor write. He points his phone at the QR code in a government notice in English on the wall of his block development office. The content is scanned into his phone, sent to a server, which translates it into Tamil and reads it out to him on his phone through voice synthesis.
7. Veena buys a movie ticket online and a QR code is delivered to her phone as an MMS/EMS, which is her ticket. She goes to the movie hall where she displays the QR code displayed on her phone and she is admitted in. The QR code included all the secure authentication and non repudiability that was required for this successful e-commerce transaction.
The Power of Error Correction:
Error correction in QR codes is important because you may take a picture of a QR code on a mutilated piece of paper, or under poor light. [In Japan and many other Western countries] QR Codes are increasingly being spotted on billboards, behind buses, inside newspaper flyers, and on business cards, mail order catalogues, stickers, ID cards, and a host of other places.
With error correction introduced (basically adding redundancy into the code) it would be possible to recover most of the data even if some of it is read incorrectly.
QR codes use Reed Solomon Error correction, a scheme that is used for robust error correction in many different digital applications including reading from CD-ROM drives and Internet connections over modems. Reed Solomon codes themselves are a special case of a larger class of codes called BCH codes, which incidentally were invented by two Indians—Raj Chandra Bose and Dwijendra Kumar Ray Chaudhuri in 1960.
Given the rate at which they are gaining popularity, it is not difficult to foresee a future in which mobile phones, QR code tags, RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags, and GPS coordinates, will all interact with each other constantly, delivering relevant and important information to users, irrespective of their backgrounds and geographical location. No wonder QR codes are being described as the hyperlinks of the physical world!
Conclusion:
The QR Code system potentially offers a very quick and effortless way to instatntly import URLs into our WAP phone browsers. Though this won’t make the phone screen any bigger, and won’t negate the sometimes expensive charges certain networks apply to WAP use, it certainly could do away with the clumsiness of the current method of entering links on mobile browsers. It may not take anything new possible, but, if well implemented, could make what was perviously only possible now actually practical as well, ultimately bringing us a step closer to realizing the futuristic vision of truly quick, easy, and practical internet access for all mobile users on the move.
QR codes: part
of the future of mobile marketing ...
