Chapter 01 - Untold Story of QR Code development...
In the 1960s when Japan entered its high economic growth period, supermarkets selling a wide range of commodities from foodstuff to clothing began to spring up in many neighborhoods.
Cash registers that were then used at checkout counters in these stores required the price to be keyed in manually. Because of this, many cashiers suffered from numbness in the wrist and carpal tunnel syndrome.
The invention of barcodes provided a solution to this problem
...As the use of barcodes spread, however, their limitations became apparent as well
The most prominent was the fact that a barcode can only hold 20 alphanumeric characters or so of information.
Users contacted DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED (then a division of DENSO CORPORATION) who were developing barcode readers at that time to ask them whether it was possible to develop barcodes that could hold more information, saying, “We'd like the capability to code Kanji and Kana characters as well as alphanumeric ones.”
Encouraged by these enthusiastic requests, a development team at DENSO WAVE embarked on the development of a new two-dimensional code, all out of their sincere desire to accommodate users' needs.
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.
But What is the challenge?
The greatest challenge for the team was how to make reading their code as fast as possible. One day, he hit on the idea that their problem might be solved by adding positional information indicating the existence of a code to be read.
This was how the position detecting pattern made up of square marks came into being. By incorporating these marks into their code, high-speed reading became possible.
Why did the marks have to be squares rather than any other shape?
According to Hara this was because “it was the pattern least likely to appear on various business forms and the like.”
A year and a half after the development project was initiated and after innumerable and repeated trial and error, a QR Code capable of coding about 7,000 numerals with the additional capability to code Kanji characters was finally created. This code could not only hold a great deal of information, but it could also be read more than 10 times faster than other codes.
Coming To Chapter 02 >>>
Chapter 02: Release of the Qr Code and subsequent efforts to spread its use
In 1994, DENSO WAVE (then a division of DENSO CORPORATION) announced the release of its QR Code.
The QR in the name stands for quick response, expressing the development concept for the code, whose focus was placed on high-speed reading.
As a result of his efforts...
...the QR Code was adopted by the auto industry for use in their electronic Kanban*, and it contributed greatly to making their management work efficient for a wide range of tasks from production to shipping to the issuing of transaction slips.
The QR Code became an indispensable medium that could store a great deal of information on these processes.
It was in 2002 that use of the code became widespread among the general public in Japan. What facilitated this trend was the marketing of mobile phones with a QR Code-reading feature. These phones make it possible for people to access a website or obtain a coupon by just scanning a strange, eye-catching pattern.
Coming To Chapter 03 >>>
Chapter 03: Global expansion and evolution of the QR Code
Since the QR Code is an open code that anyone is allowed to use, it is used not only in Japan, but also in countries all over the world. As rules for its use were stipulated and the code was standardized, its use spread further.
In 2000 it was approved by the ISO* as one of its international standards. At present, the use of the QR Code is so widespread that it is no exaggeration to say that it is used everywhere in the world.
While use of the QR Code spread globally, new types of QR Code to meet more sophisticated needs were created one after another.
A micro QR Code was created to meet the need for smaller codes, This is so small that it can be printed in a small space and it was made a JIS standard in 2004.
In 2008, the iQR Code, which has a small footprint despite its large coding capacity and which allows the use of rectangular code modules, was released. The code also evolved into use of rectangular code modules, was released. Also, a type of QR Code that implements reading restrictions was developed to meet users' demands for an enhanced level of privacy and the like as the times changed.
Coming To Chapter 04 >>>
Chapter 04: QR Code passion
Hara goes on to say, “Black and white codes have become so mundane now. I’d like to create more spectacular QR Codes that can stimulate people.”
THE END