The Institute - June 2021 - 61

TECH HISTORY
How the Game of Go
Inspired the QR Code
Developed by automotive manufacturer Denso
in 1994, the code is used for scanning boarding passes
and contactless credit card payments
BY JOANNA GOODRICH
THE USE OF QR (quick-response)
codes has grown in recent years thanks
to mobile phones, which can scan
them with their built-in camera. Unlike
universal product codes (UPCs), which
are mechanically scanned by a narrow
beam of light, a QR code " is detected
by a two-dimensional digital image
sensor and then digitally analyzed
by a programmed processor, " says
an article on Ricardo Illardo's Web
design site.
QR codes are used for a variety
of applications, including making
contactless credit card purchases and
scanning airline boarding passes.
The QR code was introduced in
1994 by Japanese automotive manufacturer
Denso, located in Aichi. The
company developed the code to speed
up its tracking of car parts.
UPCs contain a series of up to 12
numbers-which limits how much
information they can store.
" The QR code can handle numbers
of up to 7,087 digits, " says IEEE
Member Masahiro Hara, inventor of
the code. The codes also are robust, he
says: They can be read accurately even
if 30 percent of the code area is soiled
or damaged.
The most important feature of a
QR code, Hara says, is that it can be
read five times faster than a typical bar
code. QR codes use short URLs, which
condense information into a shorter
link that loads faster, according to
a post about the differences between
UPCs and QR codes on the QR Code
Generator blog.
Photo-illustration by Max-o-matic
JUNE 2021
THE INSTITUTE
61

http://www.ilardo.com/article_6.php https://www.densoautoparts.com/ https://www.qr-code-generator.com/blog/ https://www.qr-code-generator.com/blog/

The Institute - June 2021

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