There are many that have written off quick response (QR) codes as having no real value going forward especially with the emergence of other technologies such as near field communication.
And, it’s true that many QR codes applications to date have been impractical or don’t seem to have had much thought behind them.
It might be too soon to consign them to the scrap heap however as a number of current initiatives demonstrate a bit more creativity and initiative.
First up, Compasscode in the US which is putting codes in hotels, restaurants and other businesses in an area to provide tourists, who scan the code via smartphone or tablet, with information about the area, maps and one-touch contact details for the businesses.
The service is free to hotels, airports and other venues which agree to have the QR codes on site while businesses, which want to appear within information about the local area, pay to advertise.
Compasscode boss Corey Bolton says about 200 hotels have signed up to the initiative with the codes already live within more than 75 properties.
The company also says it has patents pending on using QR codes for local search.
Back in mid-July, Gibraltar staked a claim to being the first Wikipedia city with QR codes on plaques around the city taking users to Wikipedia pages with information about the destination, attractions and famous people.
Geotags are also being incorporated into the pages so that tourists can view a virtual tour.
GibraltarpediA follows in the footsteps of MonmouthpediA, an initiative launched in May and devised by local resident John Cummins to link the town in South Wales to relevant Wikipedia articles via QR codes.
Both projects use QRpedia codes to serve up the Wikipedia pages.
A nice lowdown on QR codes and their chances of survival provided here.
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It is funny to consider the potential usage of QR codes and if they make sense when a “simple” trip to Japan whould show that they are already extensively used by all types of businesses and can be found almost anywhere (Metro stations, products, restaurants, hotels, etc…) with all Japanese oriented mobile phones all including native QR code readers (Some efforts still necessary on the NFC side though)
I fully agree that the implementation and potential use of QR code should be carefully thought of but it is also kind of “scary” to see how many people fail to look at global best-practices and cultural differences when speaking of technology usage and user behaviors…
@antoine, excellent point re: cultural differences and Japan. QR code usage so often gets shot down because of the many lame applications
I agree with Antoine. Japan has been actively using QR codes for almost a decade now and in very creative ways. Most of the examples we see in North America are marketing related involving simple use of QR codes to direct someone to a website. There are so many more interesting uses.
Thanks for the mention Tnooz! We are excited to help qr codes become a staple in the us. We look forward to helping travelers and businesses across the nation! Thanks again!