QR Code

Hello. Have you seen me before. I bet you have. I’m a QR code, that little black-and-white square that looks like a fun puzzle. You might find me on a cereal box, in a museum, or on a poster at the park. I have an older cousin you might know, the barcode. It’s the one with all the black and white stripes. Barcodes are very helpful, but they can only hold a little bit of information, like the price of your juice box. They can also be a little slow to read. People needed something that could hold lots of information, like a whole website address or a secret message, and could be read in the blink of an eye. That’s where I come in. I was created to be a super-fast, super-smart helper.

My story began in a busy place a long time ago. It was the year 1994, and a very clever and kind man in Japan named Masahiro Hara was working in a huge car factory. Imagine a place filled with thousands of car parts. It was his job to keep track of every single one. He used my cousin, the barcode, but scanning all those parts took a lot of time. He thought, "There must be a better way.". One day during his lunch break, he was playing a game called Go. It’s a board game with black and white stones that make interesting patterns. As he looked at the board, he had a brilliant idea. He realized that a square pattern could hold much more information than simple lines. That’s how I got my shape. He even gave me three special squares in my corners. These are like my eyes. They help scanners see me clearly and read me super fast, even if you’re holding the camera sideways or upside down.

I didn't stay in the car factory for long. My creators, including Masahiro Hara, were so proud of me that they wanted to share me with the whole world. And the best part is, they decided to let everyone use me for free. That’s why you see me everywhere now. I love my job because I get to help in so many different ways. When you scan me at a restaurant, I can pop up the menu on a phone so you can see what you want to eat. If you see me in a museum next to a big dinosaur skeleton, I can show you a video of how that dinosaur used to live. I can take you to a fun game, share a song, or give you directions. I am a tiny key that unlocks a huge world of information and fun. All you have to do is point a camera at me, and I’ll open the door to something new.