Playing with QR Codes

QR Code™, QR standing for Quick Response and is something being pioneered by our cellphone centric friends in Japan.

This 2D barcode format was originally developed by Japanese automotive component manufacturer DENSO for tracking automotive parts. Since then is has become an increasingly popular method of encoding URLs, addresses, phone numbers, contact information and other information for use by camera enabled cellphones.

The cellphone user snaps a picture of the barcode and software in the camera translates it into text and can hyperlink to the encoded URL instantly. It is being used by advertisers to directly link to their sites as well as venues such as galleries, museums and zoos to hyperlink displays to more detailed multi-media information than can be contained on a sign or placard.

Software for US phones is slowly becoming available for a number of Nokia Phones. HP Labs in theUK has a free software packaged named GLASS for several Nokia and Siemens phones. Another reader program is available from Kaywa . There are also a number of sites where you can generate QR Codes and a growing number of plugins for browsers and other applications to create or make use of thes codes. The generator we use here is the Kaywa Code Generator which lets you generate a code snippet rather than an image for easier inclusion in a site. The QR Code above is actually a link to their code generator site.

I hunted around for a Wordpress QR Code plug-in to dynamically create code images, but was not happy with the maturity and stability of any of the plug-ins I tried. What we are experimenting with as you can see at the bottom of the right hand column is a rolling sequence of QR Codes in an adserve widget.

QR code is trademarked by Denso Wave, inc