Results: *** The Secret Genius of Modern Life *** QR Code * The Quick Response Code

The Japanese automotive company, Denso Wave, was one of many to wrestle with the standard UPC code system. Due to the limited storage capabilities of barcodes, Denso Wave had to apply as many as 10 bar codes on a single product just to properly track and communicate information. Additionally, because bar codes need to be scanned from one direction, they ran into production backups when their scanners couldn't read the bar codes on the variety of shapes and sizes of automotive parts. The company struggled meeting deadlines simply because bar codes slowed production. In 1994, a Denso Wave employee named Masahiro Hara conjured up the idea of QR codes while playing the game Go. If you've never played Go before, it consists of a 19×19 grid with black and white stones placed throughout. One glance at a Go board will make you see the connection between QR. Hara realized a grid system could hold much more information in a single code and could also be read from multiple directions, angles, and distances—thus speeding up production times. Hara and his Denso Wave team successfully made his vision a reality and developed the QR Code (Quick Response Code). Do you use QR Codes?

In a strategic move, Denso Wave made QR code technology freely available to the public but sold the scanner technology to read them. Hara and Denso Wave foresaw the future of QR codes in other industrial settings, but they didn't anticipate its popularity amongst small businesses and ordinary individuals. Everything changed when cellphones included cameras, because a camera is the perfect technology for reading QR codes. In 2002, Sharp introduced the first cellphone with a QR scanner and competing cellphone companies followed suit. Eventually, everyone who owned a smartphone possessed a QR scanner in their pocket.

GS1 QR Code is a variant of QR Code that conforms to GS1 specifications. It was designed specifically for sharing extended packaging information, such as lot number, product ID, and quantity. Every product with a GS1 GTIN is assigned a new QR code containing a unique URL. When a customer points their smartphone camera at the GS1 QR code (no app needed), they're taken to a web page containing key product information such as videos, recipes & recycling information. GS1 DataMatrix, GS1 QR Code and GS1 DotCode are"two-dimensional (2D) matrix symbology" symbols that can carry all GS1 keys and attributes. It can be applied to hold trade item information such as the item expiry date, serial number or batch/lot number. Have you used a GS1 QR Code?

GS1 Digital Link: Using the GS1 standard means you're not only providing a URL for people to scan, you're also providing GS1 identifiers – the same identifiers relied upon throughout industry today – and leveraging open global standards. The brand owner can link from the GS1 Digital Link URI to any number of digital information sources, all from one barcode symbol, saving space and improving efficiency. Digital content can be continually updated by a brand owner, without the need to change the QR Code with GS1 Digital Link URI on-pack, meaning packaging or artwork does not need to be changed for access to things like new promotions or usage ideas. Meanwhile, retailers, supply chain partners, and third-party applications, like diet and health apps, can still make use of the barcode as an entry point to look up their own information in their IT systems, exactly as they do today. Were you aware that a GS1 QR Code with digital link could provide so many options about a single product?