QR codes have yet to conquer the US and Europe but are prevalent in mobile phone-crazy Japan. Denso Wave, a Tokyo-based tech company, invented the nifty little two-dimensional bar codes as early as 1994. And they are everywhere now in Nippon: magazines and newspapers, billboards, clothes, beer cans, maps, business cards, cigarette boxes etc. etc. Scanning the QR code you see above should lead you to www.crunchgear.com, for example.
And the Japanese now even use QR codes on graves, as shown in the video below. It may sound macabre at first but seems to be a way to let people close to the person in question interact with each other without hassles, i.e. in the form of a mini social network that you can access with your mobile phone.
The mourners can also access information about who paid a visit to the grave recently, get the deceased person’s profile and other data or set up a virtual grave. Another example of using QR codes in this context can be found here.
Via Japan Probe
Nice one! Japan leads the way! Even when it comes to connected graves…
If you want to use QR Codes for promoting yourself, your blog or your mobile content, check out http://www.snappr.net
It allows you to create, manage and track mobile content and QR Codes in a really easy way.
Cheers,
James
Hi Serkan,
Did you already hear about the new QR Codes that encode whole videos and music without the need to go online?
I am working at Fluid Forms and we’re launching the world’s first design-it-yourself interface using QR Codes on May 27th. People can turn custom QR Codes into unique Belt Buckles. Rings, Brooches and Cufflinks follow soon.
For a glimpse please check this QR Buckle photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluidforms/
It would be great if I could provide you with more information