QR code and barcode are instruments used to gather data about specific entities. The QR code is a two-dimensional encoding, whereas a barcode is one-dimensional encoding in nature.QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed for the automotive industry in Japan. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached. A QR code uses four standardized encoding modes (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and kanji) to efficiently store data; extensions may also be used.

The QR code system was invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave. Its purpose was to track vehicles during manufacturing; it was designed to allow high-speed component scanning. QR codes are now used in a much broader context, including both commercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile-phone users (termed mobile tagging). QR codes may be used to display text to the user, to add a vCard contact to the user’s device, to open a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), or to compose an email or text message. There are a great many QR code generators available as software or as online tools. The QR code has become one of the most-used types of two-dimensional code.

QR codes have become common in consumer advertising. Typically, a smartphone is used as a QR code scanner, displaying the code and converting it to some useful form (such as a standard URL for a website, thereby obviating the need for a user to type it into a web browser).

QR code has become a focus of advertising strategy, since it provides a way to access a brand’s website more quickly than by manually entering a URL.Beyond mere convenience to the consumer, the importance of this capability is that it increases the conversion rate(the chance that contact with the advertisement will convert to a sale), by coaxing interested prospects further down the conversion funnelwith little delay or effort, bringing the viewer to the advertiser’s website immediately, where a longer and more targeted sales pitch may lose the viewer’s interest. Although initially used to track parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR codes are used over a much wider range of applications, including commercial tracking, entertainment and transport ticketing, product and loyalty marketing (examples: mobile couponing where a company’s discounted and percent discount can be captured using a QR code decoder which is a mobile app, or storing a company’s information such as address and related information alongside its alpha-numeric text data as can be seen in Yellow Pages directory), and in-store product labeling.

BAR CODE

IT is an optical, machine-readable, representation of data; the data usually describes something about the object that carries the barcode. Traditional barcodes systematically represent data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or one-dimensional (1D). Later, two-dimensional (2D) variants were developed, using rectangles, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns, called matrix codes or 2D barcodes, although they do not use bars as such. Initially, barcodes were only scanned by special optical scanners called barcode readers. Later application software became available for devices that could read images, such as smartphoneswith cameras.

n 1948 Bernard Silver, a graduate student at Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US overheard the president of the local food chain, Food Fair, asking one of the deans to research a system to automatically read product information during checkout.^[5] Silver told his friend Norman Joseph Woodland about the request, and they started working on a variety of systems. Their first working system used ultraviolet ink, but the ink faded too easily and was expensive. Convinced that the system was workable with further development, Woodland left Drexel, moved into his father’s apartment in Florida, and continued working on the system. His next inspiration came from Morse code, and he formed his first barcode from sand on the beach. “I just extended the dots and dashes downwards and made narrow lines and wide lines out of them.

Barcodes such as the UPC have become a ubiquitous element of modern civilization, as evidenced by their enthusiastic adoption by stores around the world; most items other than fresh produce from a grocery store now have UPC barcodes. This helps track items and also reduces instances of shoplifting involving price tag swapping, although shoplifters can now print their own barcodes.In addition, retail chain membership cards (issued mostly by grocery stores and specialty “big box” retail stores such as sporting equipment, office supply, or pet stores) use barcodes to uniquely identify consumers, allowing for customized marketing and greater understanding of individual consumer shopping patterns. At the point of sale, shoppers can get product discounts or special marketing offers through the address or e-mail address provided at registration.

PATIENTS IDENTIFICATION

They are widely used in the healthcare and hospital settings, ranging from patient identification (to access patient data, including medical history, drug allergies, etc.) to creating SOAP Notes with barcodes to medication management. They are also used to facilitate the separation and indexing of documents that have been imaged in batch scanning applications, track the organization of species in biology,and integrate with inmotion checkweighers to identify the item being weighed in a conveyor line for data collection.

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