QR Codes Explained
A QR Code or Quick Response Code is a type of matrix-barcode that is easily readable by mobile devices and capable of storing a large quantity of information. QR Codes can store numeric, alphanumeric, binary, or Kanji/Kana data making them very flexible tags for products, services, and marketing materials.
QR Codes are used for a number of applications to quickly launch the correct mobile application to interpret the data stored within the QR code. Perhaps the most common use of a QR Code is to hold a URL to a specific page within a Web site. In this case, the mobile device reads the QR code, determines that the data in the code is a URL, and launches a browser containing the Web site address.
But it doesn’t stop there – a QR Code can also contain a phone number, an SMS message, V-Card data or just plain alphanumeric text, and the scanning device will respond by opening up the correct application to handle the encoded data appropriately.
The Web Factors staff can teach you how to create properly formed QR codes as well as the many varied applications for these codes to help market your products or services.
How to Get Your Own QR Codes
QR Codes can be very simple containing simple data and used in low resolution environments like Web sites, or can be very complex and used in high-resolution applications like print. We have partnered with a QR code generating company to provide the most commonly needed QR Codes. You can create your own QR Code here. Please Contact Us for more information or for assistance with your QR code creation.
Uses of QR Codes
QR codes are used over a wide range of applications, including event ticketing, commercial tracking, entertainment, transportation ticketing, in-store product labeling, geo-location, and product marketing. Many of these applications target mobile-phone and mobile-device users. Users may receive text, add a vCard contact to their device, open a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), or compose an e-mail or text message after scanning QR codes.
Hardlinking Quick Response Codes
QR codes storing addresses and URLs - Uniform Resource Locators may appear in any physical medium such as magazines, on signs, on buses, on business cards, or on almost any object about which users might need information. Users with a mobile device equipped with a QR Code reader application can scan the image of the QR code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a web page in the device’s browser. Linking from physical world object is called hardlinking or object hyperlinking.
QR Codes and Geo-Location
QR Codes for may also be linked to a location to track where a code has been scanned. The application that scans the QR Code retrieves the geolocation information by using GPS and cell tower triangulation (aGPS) or the URL encoded in the QR Code itself is associated with a location. Geo-location from a Quick Response code can be very valuable in determining customer behavior and point-of-purchase trends.
Coupons and QR Codes
QR Codes can also be used to deliver a electronic coupon at the point of purchase or via email. When a user scans an in-store QR code, the code can immediately deliver a coupon via text, sms, email, or the web browser. Similarly, coupons for future purchases can be delivered via email based on a timed delivery schedule.
Your Imagination is the Limit
QR codes can be adapted to perform a wide variety of functions. Any function that can be performed on a Web site can be initiated by a QR code. Social Media Marketing, geo-location, data collection, and consumer/customer research are just the tip of the iceberg.
Technical Details of QR Codes
The technical specifications for a QR Code are set down in the ISO-18004 standard so they are the same all over the world, and the only significant variations from one QR code to another (apart from the data it contains) is the number of modules required to store the data. A Version 1 QR Code is a 21×21 array of data elements with the array increasing in size by 4 modules for each increase in version number. The largest standard QR Code is a Version 40 symbol that 177×177 modules in size and can hold up 4296 characters of alphanumeric data (theoretically) compared to 25 characters for a Version 1 QR Code.
While there is still a lot of scope for improvement, the resolution of average present-day camera-enabled portable devices is such that the size of the data modules (dots) on a QR Code of Version 5 or above (37×37) presents a real risk of incorrect decoding of the symbol by the device. When creating a QR Code intended for use with mobile phones and PDA’s it’s best to stick to Version 4 or lower, and a QR Code symbol of at least 2cm (0.85inches) across.
To make things a bit more robust, the QR Code also contains its own error correction data, internal orientation calibration and self-alignment markers. In this way it doesn’t matter whether the QR code is upside down or wrapped around a curved surface, the message will still get through.
History of QR Codes
QR codes were created by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 to track parts and vehicles in the manufacturing process. It was designed to allow its content to be scanned a very high speeds with a significant degree of accuracy. The use of QR codes outside of manufacturing started to become standard practice in the late 2000s and has continue to expand as mobile-devices and mobile phones have evolved.
QR Codes may be used without any license. The QR code is clearly defined and published as an ISO standard. Denso Wave owns the patent rights on QR codes, but has chosen not to exercise them. The term QR code itself is a registered trademark of Denso Wave Incorporated.
