Quick Response Codes

What are these square black and white (sometimes in color) boxes doing on everything from chicken to business cards? How do they work? What is the purpose?

These “squares” are QR codes. That is short for “quick response” codes. They have been around for a little while now but are starting to gain popularity as more people have smart phones. Lately you can find them on grocery store items (like Springer Mountain Farms Chicken), in magazines (Golf Digest and Enterainment, to name a couple), business cards, posters, and even billboards. A few times they have been on TV (Fox tried it and recently on Jimmy Fallon) to promote new shows or rock bands, respectively.

They work by scanning the picture with either the barcode scanner or a special app (usually a free download) on your smartphone. The top image on the left is a Microsoft Tag and can be read with the MSTag reader available for most phones. (Visit http://tag.microsoft.com) The bottom code can be read with the barcode scanner application. If your phone didn’t come with a barcode scanner preinstalled, usually they are free. Choose the correct app and point your camera at the image.

QR Codes deliver information instantly to your phone and cause an action. Usually the purpose is to drive the user to a website or another URL, such as video content or a contact us page. Or information can be pushed to the phone such as contact information. Using the codes on business cards allows contact information to be entered instantly (with your permission) instead of typing in all the information yourself.

These are only a few of the uses associated with these codes. As we move into the future, we will begin to see more of these codes integrated into everyday life.