Large Fierce Mammal

THE LFM QR Code.

If you’ve got a portable device that has a bar code scanner option, you can use it to read the Universal Product Code (UPC) printed on the packaging of, and often the store shelving that holds, just about everything you might ever want to buy. If your device gives you access to the internet you can go from scanning to check pricing and availability wherever that product is sold, read product reviews written by other people who have purchased and/or used it, visit the manufacturer’s website – the options are limited only by your surfing skills.

At the top of this article is another even more information packed bit of labelling called a Quick Response (QR) code. According to one article:

Invented in Japan by the Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 to track vehicles during the manufacturing process, the QR Code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. It was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.

Unlike the old bar code that was designed to be mechanically scanned by a narrow beam of light, the QR code is detected as a 2-dimensional digital image by a semiconductor image sensor and is then digitally analyzed by a programmed processor. The processor locates the three distinctive squares at the corners of the image, and normalizes image size, orientation, and angle of viewing, with the aid of a smaller square near the fourth corner. The small dots are then converted to binary numbers and validity checked with an error-correcting code.

Yesterday my exceptionally tech savvy Wife brought a website to my attention that makes QR Codes for the masses. Presented as, “… a gift to the Internet community brought to you by Andreas Haerter and Andreas Wolf,” GOQE.ME is a tool you may find useful. Go check it out.