Two-dimensional barcodes used to enable users to access data or web-based resources

 Quick Response (QR) codes are two-dimensional barcodes used to enable users to access data or web-based resources (URLs). The technology, created in 1994 by Masahiro Hara from the Japanese company Denso Wave, was originally designed to track motor vehicle components through the manufacturing process. You’ll likely be familiar with their design: a series of black lines and squares on a white background. Although QR codes were invented almost three decades ago, it’s only in the past five years or so that they have been adopted by the western world at scale.

This is partly due to Apple’s iOS 11 update back in 2017, which started allowing users to quickly and conveniently scan a QR code using the camera app. Soon after, Android followed suit. QR codes have enjoyed a huge upsurge in adoption across China, where they are scanned to collect wedding gifts at a gift registry, to identify pets, reply to job adverts, and much more. The tech is also used to both sign in and post in the WeChat messaging app and Alipay systems, meaning millions of citizens use QR codes every day.

While the technology may have initially been overlooked by the West, QR codes become more widely used in 2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Businesses, governments, and other organizations turned to the technology as a way of tracking social movements. Governments in Europe, Asia, and the US also used QR codes as part of their how to become a computer engineer track-and-trace systems.

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