QR Codes

New '2D barcodes' puts info at the tip of your camera phone

ScanLife and Jagtag want you to get in the habit of using your cellphone camera as a magic wand to extract digital content from inanimate objects.

The tech start-ups are in a race to get consumers to scan "2D barcodes" — matrix-like patterns that can hold much more data than the ubiquitous striped barcodes.

ScanLife and Jagtag supply technology that let you use your camera phone to do the scanning. They can deliver anything you might see or hear on a Web page to your handset, paid for by publishers or advertisers. The companies are taking different approaches to rolling out this technology in North America. Though it's early, each has gotten large clients to run promising trials.

Jagtag recently hooked up with Nike for an ad campaign built around barcodes on posters at a roving, extreme-sports competition. At every tour stop, fans could scan codes on posters and get Nike-sponsored athletes' videos, pictures and fan data.

Sears has placed ScanLife codes on store displays for power tools and TV sets that serve up Web links to online product reviews. And Canada's National Post, a 200,000-circulation, daily newspaper, has begun placing ScanLife codes on some print stories to enable readers to use their handsets to follow developing news coverage from the Post's website.

This year, 89% of new mobile phones shipped to the U.S. will have cameras, according to InfoTrends/CAP Ventures. Jagtag CEO Dudley Fitzpatrick envisions a world where 2D barcodes turn up on every imaginable surface. "It's a crazy idea that every object in the world can deliver on-demand digital video to any camera phone," says Fitzpatrick.

Snap and go

So, 2D barcodes give publishers and advertisers a way to leapfrog Google's popular search ads, which let advertisers post links alongside search terms related to their products. By contrast, barcodes push digital content to handsets at the moment a person is most interested in a certain topic. And there's no futzing with meandering Web searches, says Jonathan Bulkeley, CEO of Scanbuy, parent of ScanLife.

"Advertising dollars are being sucked out of print advertising because results are not really measurable," says Bulkeley. "This is the biggest thing to happen to print in ages."

Researchers at PricewaterhouseCoopers are testing ways to deploy the technology. One involves running codes for a recipe in newspaper, magazine and TV ads. Scan the barcode, and you get the recipe, a list of ingredients, maps to stores and coupons. "There's great engagement," says Mark Lobel, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. "You can go right from the traditional pages of a newspaper or magazine to their websites and even do transactions."

The new barcodes have drawn the attention of Microsoft, which quietly launched Microsoft Tag in January. It has begun trials, including placing codes on hamburger boxes at some Hardee's restaurants. Scanning the code takes you to a Web page displaying a coupon for free french fries. Product manager Aaron Getz says Microsoft is planning wider field tests: "There's an enormous amount of activity. A lot of stuff has not yet seen the light of day."

The catch: There's no guarantee U.S. consumers will go scan crazy with their camera phones. The 2D barcodes are a big hit in Japan, where they are called QR (quick-response) codes. But the handset-happy Japanese have long used their cellphones for everything from buying items from vending machines to navigating Tokyo's busy streets.

Finding the right formula

ScanLife and Jagtag each believe they have the winning formula for enticing U.S. consumers to follow suit and are hustling to line up partnerships with handset makers and telecoms.

ScanLife requires a Web-enabled phone and works on 400 different combinations of handsets and phone plans. From your phone, you download a free app from www.getscanlife.com, then use it to scan ScanLife barcodes. The application opens your mobile browser and connects you to a designated Web link. Microsoft Tag also requires you to download a free app, from http://gettag.mobi

ScanLife allows consumers to create personal barcodes tied to Web links of their choosing. Bulkeley's 16-year-old daughter,India, for instance, has a barcode linked to her Facebook page that she has taped to her dorm room door and silk-screened on her T-shirt. "Individuals creating codes and getting their friends to scan them is the viral aspect," says Bulkeley. "That's how I think this will take off."

Jagtag doesn't require a Web-enabled phone. Anyone using a Verizon or AT&T camera phone with text messaging can access the content. You take a photo of a tag, then send it to 524824. If you have an iPhone, you e-mail the photo to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . In the reply, you'll get a picture message that may contain an image, video or audio.

"Today 2D barcodes are a micromedium," says Fitzpatrick. "But advertisers really want this, and when a lot of brands can reach a lot of people, it will become a mass medium."

The Toronto-based Post began attaching ScanLife barcodes to print stories, including the unfolding scandal involving former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney. Readers got updates from the Post's online coverage during the course of the day.

"We're starting pretty slowly, trying to create a tie-in between our print product and our mobile site," says Jonathan Harris, vice president of digital media. "I think it will become much bigger and more important. There is a heck of a lot we can do to give advertisers the opportunity to interact with their messages on more than one medium.

QR Codes: How can we use them in public history?

Greg Shine, guest blogger

How can we use QR Codes in public history and historic site interpretation?

I have to give credit to one of my colleagues, Prof. Brett Oppegaard of Washington State University-Vancouver, for planting the seed for Fort Vancouver’s foray into QR Codes. We’re working together on an optimistic AR (augmented reality) project for mobile storytelling in the Village of Fort Vancouver, and Brett suggested some beta testing via QR codes. Since then, I’ve tested them on waysides, in buildings, and at special events. Although still in its infancy at Fort Vancouver, I’ve noticed some positives and negatives to using this technology.

Thus far, I think the benefits of using QR codes outweigh the challenges. Here are a few benefits:

Cost. As described above, the major costs associated with QR coding seem to lie in content development, not technical development. Staff can focus on crafting quality content rather than coding. Also, QR codes can be printed from a desktop to paper or stickers for pennies on the dollar. At our most recent Christmas at Fort Vancouver special event, I created ten QR Codes, printed them out on the staff printer, cut them out, and then taped them at various places at the fort. The majority of my time was spent on content -- pulling interesting factoids together that linked to the event and then creating a specific web page for each. That’s it.

Timeliness. Once a QR code is established (let’s say it links to a specific park web page), you only need update the webpage it links to, not the QR code itself. Here’s an example: The ten QR codes that I put up linked to pages with interpretive elements that were specific to the park’s Christmas event. Rather than take those codes down, I can simply change the content of those pages to feature something else, like an object found there archaeologically or a link to a specific quote or video of a ranger talk. This also makes QR codes great for information, too. A code on a visitor center door could link to different information daily to reflect park specific conditions, featured programs, etc., by updating the URL to which it links.

Supplemental interpretation & provocation. These codes do not – and are not intended to – replace person-to-person interpretation. However, they are a wonderful resource for providing supplemental interpretation or a primary option to the folks who 1) might like to tour a site and learn at their own pace, or 2) can’t make a scheduled program. They are also a wonderful tool for provoking visitors into learning more about a site; we call this incremental hooking for interpretation. If a goal in interpretation is to provoke and help visitors connect to their own understanding of a site, then QR codes are a small but mighty tool on our workbench. At Fort Vancouver, we can tell folks that a certain building is reconstructed from the archaeological and historical record, but why not show them, too? A QR code can link to historic photos, historic documents, flash videos, text; even a 3D image of an artifact found right there onsite.

Demonstrating that we get it. By using QR codes and other developments in technology, we’re tapping into a growing audience that has long looked at government employees and programs as behind the curve. This is particularly evident here in Portland; our park is unique in that it sits in the middle of the Silicon Forest, one of the nation’s most tech-savvy metro areas, especially when it comes to smart phone applications. We feel that we really don’t have a choice but get it. One of NPS Interpretation maven David Larsen’s mantras is also ours: be relevant or be a relic. We feel that technology is one pathway toward relevancy.

Of course, there are also many challenges. Here are a few I’ve identified thus far:

Accessibility – in the broadest sense of the word. It is impossible for most park visitors to access QR codes without a smartphone. While they are continuing to drop in price, they are not cheap. In addition to smart phone purchase, you’ll also need a data plan and some type of application to read the codes. This can add up quickly. Please note, though, that mere possession of a smart phone does not ensure access to QR Codes. We’re lucky enough at Fort Vancouver to be a national park in an urban center; the majority of parks are not, and basic cell coverage – let
alone 3G or 4G coverage – is neither possible nor probable. Also, in light of the NPS’ amazing work in making the parks more relevant to a broader, more ethnically, culturally, and economically diverse audience, this technology has the potential to exclude and/or alienate our prime constituents.

Potential for overreliance. Historic site managers may be blown away by QR code technology and may see opportunities for cost savings during these times of tight budgets, but I urge restraint. Our studies show what we’ve thought all along: that it isn’t an adequate replacement for other interpretive services. Visitors queried by Prof. Oppegaard, for example, still favor personal contact with park staff.

What other benefits and challenges do you see?

6 COMMENTS:

Shaun Reeser said...: This use of QR codes would certainly open up new avenues of learning, including showing the tech-savvy that you "get it." As you have pointed out, however, this could be a route to exclusivity, one that lower income people cannot necessarily afford, or that others may choose not to pay for. (I am referring to smart phones in general, not necessarily reader apps, especially free ones.)
Does Ft. Vancouver provide information to visitors about using these QR codes? I have seen them on UPS shipping labels, but would not have guessed their purpose at an historical park. I would have just thought of them as inventory labels. Also, are there plans to make this supplemental information available to those who do not have smartphones?
This is an interesting set of posts, and provides good ideas for other public history venues. Thanks!; February 23, 2010 1:43 PM
Anne said...: How exactly does this work? Well, I went to our best online training source, youtube.com, and watched the magic happen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a33uCPOywA. The phone didn't look like a smartphone so I played for 30 minutes on my Verizon toss-in-the-pocket model. I ended up at a site, http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qr-code-software/ which listed readers and phones. No luck for my model. Guess I'll have to amp up the technology.

What's so cool about this, is that the savvy user could not only post their car-for-sale on Craig's list, they could also put a QR code in the back window and the 10 people in Spokane who know about QR codes would maybe 1) see the code and 2) want to buy a car. But you get my point.; February 24, 2010 4:03 PM
john said...: This post has been removed by the author.; February 24, 2010 10:13 PM
john said...: It is definitely an interesting new direction for the presentation of a historic narrative. Although I am curious about the reliability of this technology.
Does the use of the QR code to link to a website in any way slow down the time it takes to connect to a website especially if a lot of people are using the same code at once?
Also along with people on a tight budget being less likely to own a smart-phone there are also people like me who while being very interested in bringing new technology into the field of history have always found surfing the web with anything smaller then a laptop to be too much of a headache and therefore do not have a smart-phone.; February 24, 2010 10:16 PM
mikepk said...: Ive seen this requirement for applications and smart phones as a major barrier to the adoption of QR codes. I've been trying out a solution that uses camera phones + email to decode them (to keep there from being a barrier to decode) at http://snapmyinfo.com. It only does codes generated on the site (for now) but I'm looking for interest in general QR code decoding. It's my contention that making QR codes more accessible to more phones that have access to email and mms (and a camera, of course) would speed the adoption of them. Also I'm playing with the concept of using AR overlays on top of QR codes but that definitely *does* require a smartphone.; February 26, 2010 8:52 AM
Dave said...: Certainly as phones improve more and more of them will have reader capability. As far as surfing goes on a phone my iPhone works great. I have a great interest in QR Codes as I have started a company that will allow you to manage your QR codes. You can not only change the website but also the site that the code points to. Scandots will also give you analytics.
I really think that the uses for this technology are too compelling to discount.; February 27, 2010 7:33 AM

LINKS TO THIS POST

Create a Link

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

ScanLife Bar Code Reader Application Released for iPhone

On Tuesday, Scanbuy Inc. announced the release of new versions of its ScanLife barcode scanner for the Android, BlackBerry and iPhone operating systems. ScanLife uses the camera in a mobile phone to scan bar codes that automatically display product information, show videos, dial a phone number and more without needing to type or search for information.

The application can read all major barcode formats on three of the leading smartphone platforms as well as read all popular 2D bar code formats such as Datamatrix, EZcode and QR. The new version of ScanLife allows phones with auto-focus cameras (such as the DROID by Motorola, BlackBerry Tour and iPhone 3GS) to read 1D barcodes like UPC, EAN and ISBN.

ScanLife is available for free from the App Store and requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later to install and run

Top Five Best Uses of QR Codes For Marketing

images_2

As the popularity of QR Codes continually increases, there are several new and unique ways to be both creative and crafty in your marketing campaigns. Since you can add a QR code to anything where you can put an image, the marketing possibilities are virtually endless. We thought it would be fun to examine five of these campaigns.

Swag Branding

Everyone loves free stuff, and corporate branding of free merchandise is nothing new. Leave-behinds or take-ways or whatever you want to call them have always held a vague prospect of getting your company in front of new people. By placing QR codes on free promo merchandise, the person receiving it has more ability to interact with your company and more of a reason to share your merchandise with others so they can also interact the product (and you have a chance to see just how many and how often and for how long that product's marketing life lasts.

Since many companies have not taken advantage of the QR revolution, using this technology now is both advantageous and informative. More people will eagerly scan the QR codes so they can participate in this fun and inventive technology if you include simple directions.

QR'd Product Catalogs

Many companies rely on large product catalogs to show all that they offer. Recently, many of these have begun seeing a real advantage in incorporating QR codes into every product they sell.

A QR-sprinkled product catalog does a few things: one, you can offer up-to-the-minute information about product availability if you sell customized products; two, you can notify production if you see that a certain number of items has been scanned frequently preparing for orders; and three, product catalogs can be printed less often.

The other obvious benefit of this feature is that it creates a whole new avenue for customers to interact with a company. Viewers can share product information and samples with anyone all over the world all with a simple click of their phone, recommending products or making the decision to purchase more convenient, timely and social.

Artwork

Since the image of the QR Code can be adaptable it can also be made to include logos or specific images and even video. This function helps create an extremely creative marketing art piece.

For example, the Pet Shop Boys released the single, Integral, in 2007 in protest to the British government proposing a national identity card concept. The single featured a QR Code as the single's artwork that linked to a website that informed the user of ways to counter this proposal. They also included a moving QR Code into their music video that anyone could snap with their phone and be directed to the same website while watching their TV. Regardless of their political agenda, it was very successful in raising awareness of their cause, and can be for anyone else too.

QR Billboards

Recently marketers in Britain have found success with simply displaying QR Codes on billboards. The photo featured here was for a DVD release for the movie, "28 Days Later". While this advertisement could have done so much more with its code link, its presence did make the DVD release much more popular than expected in that area because it got people talking.

The great thing about its presence is that it creates buzz regardless of the consumer's knowledge of the technology. For those who do know what it is and how to access it, the QR image lets them interact with your product and website. For those that don't know, a web address or simply the company name will lead to many search attempts to find out what is going on with the advertisement.

And the number one best and most creative use of QR in recent weeks...

QR Buildings

Now this is certainly not for every business (!), but what one company has done in Japan is truly one of a kind. In 2009, The N Building was unveiled in the Tachikawa district of Tokyo. The whole side of the building facing the street is one large QR Code.

Once the image is caught on your phone, the outside facade disappears and leads to a variety of extremely unique and intriguing functions: information on shops inside, reservations for stores and restaurants inside, and special coupons only available to those who have captured their building's image. The most impressive function? Speech bubbles of employees working inside who are twittering, as well as the ability to see where they are blogging from within the building (and track them if they are moving and, say, tweeting on a mobile device!). It is a very creative and interesting new idea that has quickly made this a very popular destination within the community

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tricia_Steele