Premium Create QR Code today? A QR code (an initialism for quick response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) invented in 1994 by the Japanese automotive company Denso Wave. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that can contain information about the item to which it is attached. In practice, QR codes often contain data for a locator, identifier, or tracker that points to a website or application. A QR code uses four standardized encoding modes (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and kanji) to store data efficiently; extensions may also be used. The Quick Response system became popular outside the automotive industry due to its fast readability and greater storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. Applications include product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management, and general marketing. Discover more details at Create QR Code.
Looking back on those days, Masahiro Hara in charge of the development of the QR Code then remembers that people who were developing 2D codes at other companies were all obsessed with packing as much information as possible into their codes. With barcodes, information is coded in one direction (one dimension) only. With 2D codes, on the other hand, information is coded in two directions: across and up/down., Out of a strong desire to develop a code that could be read easily as well as being capable of holding a great deal of information, Hara set out to develop a new 2D code. He dared to try this with only one other person as his team member.
Like the development of many technologies, QR Codes were created out of necessity. QR Codes actually started out as Barcodes with their typical purpose: for supermarkets. In the 1960s, Japan was experiencing a wave of economic growth. Supermarkets expanded from selling just food items to adding in clothing and a versatile range of other commodities. So, they basically realized that they needed a way to keep track of everything. Before Barcodes existed, cashiers had to manually enter individual items (can you imagine?!), which of course took ages. Due to the health issues created as a result of these heavily repeated actions like carpal tunnel syndrome, supermarket managers knew they needed to find a solution. Discover more information at https://orderific.com/.
UPC barcodes are one-dimensional. They encode information horizontally, through the width and placement of vertical lines. QR codes encode are two-dimensional. They encode information both horizontally and vertically. That means QR code size can store more information than a UPC barcode of equal size. At present, custom QR codes can store up to 7,000 characters. That makes them ideal for scenarios where size is at a premium, like food QR codes. Fast scanning is the primary reason Hara and Denso Wave set out to create the QR code. The automated automotive industry demanded it. The name of the technology itself betrays that focus: Quick Response code.