History of QR-code

The history of the QR code - how did it become so popular? What can be said about its future?

Part 1: Unknown facts from the history of the QR code

In the 1960s, when Japan entered a period of rapid economic growth, supermarkets began to appear in many areas, selling a wide range of goods from food to clothing.

Prices had to be entered manually into the cash register, and many cashiers suffered from carpal tunnel disease. They really wanted to make their lives easier. After the invention of barcodes, the problem was solved. Later, a POS system was developed, where the price of the goods was displayed at the checkout immediately after scanning the product code with a special sensor, and information about the goods was sent to the computer. As the barcode became popular, it turned out that it could only hold about 20 alphanumeric characters.

Users approached DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED (at the time a division of DENSO CORPORATION), a barcode reader manufacturer, with a request to develop codes that contained more information. They indicated that they would like to be able to encode kanji and kapa characters as well as alphanumeric characters. DENSO WAVE's development team enthusiastically embarked on the development of a new type of code - two-dimensional - to help meet the needs of users. 

The development team consists of only two people.

Masahiro Hara, who was responsible for the development of the QR code, says in his memoirs that employees who worked on 2D codes in other companies wanted to fit as much data as possible into it.

The principle of the 2D code is that it allows encoding data in two directions: horizontally and vertically. Hara wanted to create not only a code with more information, but also with a faster readability. But he could only entrust this to one more person, making him a member of his team.

The biggest challenge for the team was to make the code as fast as possible. But one day, the developer came up with the idea that the solution to the problem was to add positioning information that would indicate the presence of the code being read.

This is how the square marks positioning template was born. It was these marks that made it possible to read the code as quickly as possible.

However, why should the marks be square, and not, for example, round or triangular?

Hara says it's because this pattern was the least used in various forms of business.

If the code uses a positioning pattern and there is a similar sign next to it, the reader may also mistake this sign for a pattern. To avoid this, Hara and his colleague carefully studied the ratio of black and white characters on paper products, printed materials, etc. As a result, they came up with the ideal ratio of 1:1:3:1:1. This resulted in a device that could determine the position of the code regardless of the scanning angle, within 360°. After 1.5 years of development and a lot of testing and verification, a QR code was created that could contain about 7000 digits with the additional ability to encode kanji characters. This code was not only able to hold a large amount of data, but was also read 10 times faster.

Part 2: QR code production and distribution

DENSO WAVE (formerly a division of DENSO CORPORATION) announced the release of its own QR code in 1994. The very concept of the code - quick response - implies a high reading speed. However, when it was announced, even Hara could not be sure that this code would be accepted as a replacement for traditional barcodes. Nevertheless, he was confident in the effectiveness of the QR code and tried to introduce it to as many target audiences and companies as possible so that more people could use it.

The automotive industry was the first to adopt the QR code for use in electronic kanbans (Electronic Kanban: a communication tool used in production management systems), and it has greatly helped to improve management efficiency in the industry. In addition, there was a need for production transparency in other industries, such as food, pharmaceuticals, etc., and the QR code made it easy to track products. Therefore, manufacturers began to use it widely. There was another factor that greatly contributed to the widespread use of the code, and that was DENSO WAVE's decision to make the QR code specifications publicly available so that everyone could use them freely.

Another interesting point is that although DENSO WAVE retains the patent rights to the QR code, it has stated that it will not use it exclusively so that the QR code can be used by as many people as possible. Thus, the QR code became publicly available all over the world.

All this happened in 2002, when the code became known in Japan. With the development of the mobile marketing industry, the QR code has been used to access websites, get discounts, or receive additional information. At the moment, it is indispensable in business and everyday life, as it is used even when issuing personal, travel documents, as well as personalized cards.

Part 3: Global expansion and evolution of the QR code

Because access to a QR code is open, it can be used by anyone in the world. As standardization progressed, in 1997 it was approved as an AIM standard for use in the automatic identification industry. In 1999, it was approved as a 2D code standard by the Japan Industrial Standards and 2D code in EDI standard transaction forms by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. And in 2000, it was approved by ISO as one of the international standards.

As it developed, micro-QR code was also created for use on small surfaces. This, in turn, received JIS standardization in 2004. In 2008, the iQR Code was created, allowing the use of rectangular code modules with a large amount of information in a small size. Later, a new type of QR code was also released, which implements encryption capabilities to increase privacy. Also in 2014, FrameQR was introduced, which can improve the design of your code by freely combining illustrations and photos.

As already mentioned, evolutionary improvements are constantly being made to QR codes based on the technological experience gained by DENSO WAVE. You can choose any of the suggested codes, depending on your needs.

Part 4: Hara's passion for the QR code as his brainchild

In 2012, the QR code received an award in the Media for Industry category from the Good Design Award (a good design award created to promote industrial design in all respects). The reasons for the awarding of the code are as follows: "The creators have taken on the burden of developing a large number of codes and made their technology accessible to everyone so that everyone can use a QR code in their lives." This was the 1st time after 18 years that the QR code was recognized and respected.

Hara said: "Black and white codes have become quite common, and I would like to create more original QR codes that could inspire people."

When asked about the users of the QR code, he says that he doesn't care who it is - it's important that people just use it. "I would like the QR code to develop and change. This is my policy."