TrackingQR

Snappr, based out of San Francisco, provides comprehensive 2D code reading and generation services.  With a java application, SMS/email support, and mobile-optimized web functionality, Snappr’s tools are accessible to a wide variety of phones and platforms.  The code generation tools allows users to generate codes with text, links to social networks, and optimized codes for selling goods like cars.  Snappr also recently released a Facebook app that allows users to create t-shirts and other goods, bearing a QR code that links to their profile.

Registration is required to use the tools.  As a registered user you can also save the codes you have generated.  To learn more, check out the Snappr website or visit the site’s Facebook application

Link: http://www.snappr.net

Due to the rapid proliferation of QR codes in Japan, there are quite a few nice tools available in Japanese.  One such tool is Moji-Q, a web-based QR code generator that allows for embedded text, color manipulation, and various size choices.  It can create codes that store URLs, phone/email contacts, and proprietary bookmarks for DoCoMo mobile phones.  You can also create a mirror effects.

One common concern with QR codes is the lack of source verification–in other words, what’s to stop someone from placing a malicious code over a genuine one.  Adding text is not a complete fix, but it certainly adds another layer of protection.

Although the interface is in Japanese, it is pretty straight forward.  There is an older version which is slightly less complex.  See the links below:

• Moji-Q version 2.0 (older non-flash version)

If you have ever attempted to read QR codes with the iPhone, you’ll recognize it’s a hit-or-miss process.  Codes with too much data are literally impossible to read even with perfect lighting conditions.  Much of this has to do with the lack of a macro-focus on the built-in camera.

To combat this weakness, several ingenious bloggers have written about a couple of cheap fixes.  Step 1: Go to the local dollar store and pick up some cheap reading glasses/magnifying glass.  Hold it in front of the camera and voila, macro capabilities.  Yes, this is clearly a dodgy stopgap for a problem that Apple should have addressed, but it will certainly come in handy the next time you want to read a tiny 2D code on your iPhone.

Checkout the following blog posts for before and after images:

“How to take pesky close-ups with the iPhone” - via PeskyBeaver
mumoo (Japanese)

Ishinokoe (lit. the voice of stone), a Japanese company that specializes in creating stone memorials for the dead, is offering QR code-enabled “monuments” and cards.  The code on the monuments take visitors to a mobile website featuring pictures and messages from the deceased.  The company also offers drivers license sized cards that have QR codes, which link to the site and contain phrases like, “I’m always watching over you…”

Ishinokoe - http://ishinokoe.co.jp

What are QR codes?

A QR code

QR codes or Quick Response codes, are two-dimensional, square bar codes that allow data to be stored in a matrix of black and white pixels.  They are particularly useful for accessing data and information with a camera phone.  Originally developed in 1994 by Denso Wave–a Japanese auto component manufacturer–QR codes have found widespread acceptance in Japan.  QR codes are also being implemented in European, North American, and Australian markets due to better phone technology and increased availability of affordable mobile data plans.

How do QR codes work?

In a typical application of the technology, the QR code data is accessed through a mobile phone.  The user takes a photo of the code, which is decoded by a program on the phone.  QR codes can store URL’s, phone numbers, contact information–basically any text data (with a limit of 4,296 alphanumeric characters).  Once the QR code has been successfully read, the program can direct the user based upon the information type: take the user to a website, call a phone number, load a contact into the user’s address book, and so forth.

To illustrate, imagine you are at a bus stop and you see a poster for a political candidate.  You’d like to find out more about this politician’s views; fortunately, there is a small QR code printed onto the poster.  You pull out your camera-phone, open your QR code reading program, and take a photo of the code.  After capturing the code, you are redirected to the candidates’ website, where you can read up on their policy stances while you wait for that bus.

In order to read a code, you will need a mobile device with a camera and software to read the QR code.  You will also need some sort of data-plan if the code contains a web URL.  Software is becoming more ubiquitous, although there are still many phones in the US that are still unable to decode QR codes.

Application of QR Codes

QR codes have typically been used in advertising but have many applications, not to mention many compelling potential uses.

Examples include:

• Print advertising (newspapers, magazines, mailers, posters, etc.)
• Business cards (embedding contact information)
• Mobile payment systems
• Mobile ticketing systems
• Coupons
• Tagging of pretty much anything

Competing 2D code Formats

Although QR codes have achieved a high-degree of mainstream recognition, there are several other formats of 2D codes, which are currently in use.

• DataMatrix - these codes are used primarily for tagging/labeling objects including letters, shipping labels, and aerospace parts.
• SemaCode - codes created by a company of the same name.  They are specifically targetted at the mobile phone and claim to have an open system with no restrictions placed on code generation.
• EZCode - a closed format created by ETH Zurich, specifically for mobile phones

Unfortunately, there is not yet a defacto standard for 2D barcodes in consumer-facing applications.  Although QR codes have enjoined significant success in Japan, only time will tell if it will come out on top of competing standards.

Summary

QR codes sit at the barrier between digital media and the physical world; they serve to connect both together.  As better phones come out and more consumers use mobile devices to access the internet, the US will be a prime market for integration in many different mediums.