A QR code, quick-response code , [ 1 ] is a type of two-dimensional matrix barcode invented in by Masahiro Hara of Japanese company Denso Wave for labelling automobile parts. The required data is then extracted from patterns that are present in both the horizontal and the vertical components of the QR image. Whereas a barcode is a machine-readable optical image that contains information specific to the labeled item, the QR code contains the data for a locator, an identifier, and web-tracking.
To store data efficiently, QR codes use four standardized modes of encoding:. Compared to standard UPC barcodes , the QR labeling system was applied beyond the automobile industry because of faster reading of the optical image and greater data-storage capacity in applications such as product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management, and general marketing.
The quadrangular configuration of the QR code system consolidated the data of the various bar-code labels with Kanji, Kana , and alphanumeric codes printed onto a single label. As of , [update] QR codes are used in a much broader context, including both commercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users termed mobile tagging.
QR codes may be used to display text to the user, to open a webpage on the user's device, to add a vCard contact to the user's device, to open a Uniform Resource Identifier URI , to connect to a wireless network, or to compose an email or text message. There are a great many QR code generators available as software or as online tools that are either free or require a paid subscription. During June , 14 million American mobile users scanned a QR code or a barcode.
In , 89 million people in the United States scanned a QR code using their mobile devices, up by 26 percent compared to The majority of QR code users used them to make payments or to access product and menu information.
