The QR code is coming
Mobile: Information should be available faster, better, and more easily. The Japanese QR code is designed to make this possible.
Mobile Information should be available faster, better and more easily. The Japanese QR code should make this possible.
As we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words. With the QR code, it's the other way around. At first glance, it says nothing at all. Only with the help of a cell phone camera and installed software can the user read the QR and access the information hidden in the QR code within seconds. QR, what is it? QR stands for Quick Response. It is a two-dimensional barcode. It can be compared with the familiar one-dimensional barcode. If you take a picture of such a code with your cell phone camera, software converts the grid. For example, into a hyperlink to the Internet, into a message with words or even into a piece of music.
In Japan, the QR code is all the rage. More than 50 million people use them every day. This is because the tedious typing of information on a cell phone is a thing of the past. In a matter of seconds, users can use the code to call up information and save it on their cell phone. In Japan, it can now be found everywhere. In newspapers, on billboards, on food or in passports. Even on cheeseburger packaging. For example, consumers can use their cell phones to find out how many calories they are currently consuming. The QR code has also had a significant influence on advertising in Japan. Companies are having the square grid of dots printed on posters, which is changing the cityscape of Tokyo.
Still unknown in SwitzerlandIn Switzerland, experts are also predicting a great future for the technology. This is because QR codes will enable users to access information even faster and more efficiently. Take Semapedia, for example: The project aims to link objects and places with articles from Wikipedia. The principle is simple. A QR-like code is generated from a Wikipedia URL. When this graphic is attached to the corresponding place or object, a physical link to the Wikipedia article is created. The code can be photographed with a cell phone camera. The code is converted into the URL to the Wikipedia article and the browser can then be used to call up the article.
This physical linking is not limited to Wikipedia. Any website can be linked in this way. The QR code is particularly interesting where people with camera phones are or pass by. And not only URLs, but also other information that is difficult to enter using a mini keyboard can be passed on in this way.
The QR dot matrix and its possible uses are still largely unknown to consumers in Switzerland. Rossignol, the ski and ski accessories manufacturer, used the QR code for the first time at Freestyle.ch. The public was able to photograph the QR code at the event stand and take part in a competition. According to Martin Hochuli, Managing Director of BXP, two people took part in the competition using the QR code.
To make the QR code even more popular in Switzerland, Swisscom, Tamedia and Kaywa are launching a QR campaign in October. The experts agree: the QR code will become more attractive with the spread of new cell phones and ever lower tariffs.
Christian Lüscher
As we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words. With the QR code, it's the other way around. At first glance, it says nothing at all. Only with the help of a cell phone camera and installed software can the user read the QR and access the information hidden in the QR code within seconds. QR, what is it? QR stands for Quick Response. It is a two-dimensional barcode. It can be compared with the familiar one-dimensional barcode. If you take a picture of such a code with your cell phone camera, software converts the grid. For example, into a hyperlink to the Internet, into a message with words or even into a piece of music.
In Japan, the QR code is all the rage. More than 50 million people use them every day. This is because the tedious typing of information on a cell phone is a thing of the past. In a matter of seconds, users can use the code to call up information and save it on their cell phone. In Japan, it can now be found everywhere. In newspapers, on billboards, on food or in passports. Even on cheeseburger packaging. For example, consumers can use their cell phones to find out how many calories they are currently consuming. The QR code has also had a significant influence on advertising in Japan. Companies are having the square grid of dots printed on posters, which is changing the cityscape of Tokyo.
Still unknown in SwitzerlandIn Switzerland, experts are also predicting a great future for the technology. This is because QR codes will enable users to access information even faster and more efficiently. Take Semapedia, for example: The project aims to link objects and places with articles from Wikipedia. The principle is simple. A QR-like code is generated from a Wikipedia URL. When this graphic is attached to the corresponding place or object, a physical link to the Wikipedia article is created. The code can be photographed with a cell phone camera. The code is converted into the URL to the Wikipedia article and the browser can then be used to call up the article.
This physical linking is not limited to Wikipedia. Any website can be linked in this way. The QR code is particularly interesting where people with camera phones are or pass by. And not only URLs, but also other information that is difficult to enter using a mini keyboard can be passed on in this way.
The QR dot matrix and its possible uses are still largely unknown to consumers in Switzerland. Rossignol, the ski and ski accessories manufacturer, used the QR code for the first time at Freestyle.ch. The public was able to photograph the QR code at the event stand and take part in a competition. According to Martin Hochuli, Managing Director of BXP, two people took part in the competition using the QR code.
To make the QR code even more popular in Switzerland, Swisscom, Tamedia and Kaywa are launching a QR campaign in October. The experts agree: the QR code will become more attractive with the spread of new cell phones and ever lower tariffs.
Christian Lüscher
