During a recent trip to Japan I discovered how technologically advanced Japanese mobile phones are. Many Japanese phones can listen to the radio and watch TV, can be used as a debit or credit card and swiped through checkout lines or to buy everything from mascara to jet planes. They also can be swiped and function as a season ticket or train ticket. However I mostly witnessed the QR Codes and Data Matrix Codes on everything including receipts, buses, business cards and billboards. These Codes are 2-dimensional, square bar codes that can be read with your mobile phone camera provided you have the correct reader software installed. The codes were initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, however they are now used to link to everything from URL addresses, photos and video data which are launched when the bar code is scanned. Users can also generate and print their own QR Code for others to scan and use by visiting one of several free QR Code generating sites. I can’t wait until this technology hits Australia!

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Yours in design,
Janet-eratops