How QR Codes Can Actually Be Useful

Emma Jenkin

Originally published at her blog.

No, seriously. I love this.

“Austrian Town Turns Itself Into Virtual Library”

Scattered around the city of Klagenfurt are 70 QR codes and NFC chips. When you scan them with your smartphone, you are taken to a site where you can download a book from the public domain. Pretty nifty, right? Who doesn’t want the opportunity to snag some more reading?

But wait — the book to which you’re linked has some connection to the space you’re in when you scan the code! Apparently the code outside a police station sends you to the short story “The Murderer”! Toronto has some great sites for this too. Although not in the public domain, think of reading “In the Skin of a Lion” over the Bloor Viaduct, “Alias Grace” outside of CAMH or “Firebrand” at city hall.

The first time I saw a QR code I actually wanted to scan was to promote a book. Scanning the code downloaded the first chapter to your device. Books are well suited to mobile devices. Sure you need internet access to download them but you don’t need the internet to read them later.

As a big fan of civic things that are meant to improve your day, I love this. Hey Toronto, think we can get on this? I recommend putting a bunch of them outside TTC stops so we get something interesting to read on our commute!

, , , Infrastructure

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