Have you wondered what that black and white square on everything from in-store sale signs to food packaging was? As with everything in life the barcode has evolved. Those two dimensional squares are known as Quick Response Codes. They can store information both horizontally and vertically. The QR code was first created 1994 by the Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave to help with the barcodes limitation in tracking car parts. A QR code can hold up to 4,296 alphanumeric characters or a maximum of 7,089 numeric only characters, and can be read at high speeds. QR codes have been slowly adopted by the west, though it has been frequently seen and used in North Korea and Japan.
QR codes were once only read by dedicated QR barcode readers but have soon quickly been picked up by Smartphone apps that can not only read them but some applications have the capability of also creating them. Many Nokia, Android and Blackberry phones come with QR readers already installed. QR codes are not merely used for tracking anymore, marketers have used them as a an easy way to access their website allowing the consumer to research the product or sign up to have coupons and sale information sent to their emails. A QR code was recently placed on 100th anniversary commemorative coins created by the Royal Dutch Mint in the Netherlands, when scanned the QR code reveals further information about the coin which celebrates the building of the Mint in Utrecht. QR codes have just begun and their possibilities are endless. What we once saw as a small square has soon transformed into big business for everyone involved.