New Mobile Technologies Have Killed the QR Code

I recently stumbled upon some software developed by the people over at QualComm, and it really caught my attention. Now that our smartphones are rolling out with better hardware, we’re now able to do new things such as “augment reality” with our phones.

What is “augmented reality” you ask?

Augmented Reality display

It happens to be the very cool effects you frequently see in sci-fi films that allow us to merge the physical world with a “virtual world” and ultimately this is going to change how we use and interact with our gadgets. With this new technology we open up a host of new ways to reach our end-users while providing a more captivating experience.

Let’s take for example that a store is offering a promotional sale and decided to use augmented displays to reach their audience to do this they could replace all of their “sale/discount” signs with tracking images that projects a wide range of deals in a more visually appealing manner. These displays also have a unique feature of being interactive, and allowing the user to make choices and guided decisions within the display.

There is a growing number of companies starting to wade into this industry. One of them is Layar, which is an app that turns everyday — real world — magazines into interactive video-rich content. Even Lego has started investing in this technology to apply to their products.

Globe projection using a simple paper image for tracking.

Now I’m sure your asking what does this have to do with QR codes?

All of these visual effects rely on tracking an image to create the perspective and depth of the object. Vuforia has developed a new product called FrameMarkers, which are essentially fancy QR codes that display 3d visuals (see below for the difference). This deviation could produce a major effect if retailers and branding agencies start utilizing it. Where a QR code can only redirect you to a website, FrameMarker can bring the website to you and project it on the physical world.

Old QR Code/New QR Code