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The barcode is a tool that revolutionized the point-of-sale process and continues to be adapted to work within evolving technologies. A more modern cousin of the barcode is the QR Code. QR stands for “quick response” and was developed out of the need for a code from which information could be generated faster and with a broader reach.

QR is slowly gaining momentum, and is a particularly powerful marketing and advertising tool. It is soon to change the way we get things done with our smartphones.

Widely used in Asia, QR Codes are read with a reader application available on any smartphone. Scanning the code with the camera of the smartphone can take the user to a page in the user’s browser, or to any other informational platform on the internet the code is directed to. QR Codes are usually placed on physical world objects, and the smartphone “hardlinks” from the object to the informational landing page online.

For example, as you walk downtown you pass a poster for a movie that interests you. In the lower right-hand corner of the poster is a QR Code. You take out your smartphone, open up the application and point your camera at it as if you were taking a picture, and instead of a picture your browser opens up to a webpage with more information about the movie. You can purchase your tickets on the spot or use the navigation icon to find out exactly where it’s playing in a five mile radius, all just because the QR Code is in front of you.

Google’s Android Operating system supports the use of QR Codes and other smartphones are catching up. Blackberry phones running Blackberry Messenger 5.0 (or more recent versions) can also scan QR Codes using the "Scan A Group Barcode" option in the BBM menu. Websites exist where you can generate and proliferate your own QR Codes. These codes are slowly gaining steam in the U.S. and are sure to be more and more widely used over the next few years.

My guess is we will see some incredible promotional events that demonstrate the power of the QR Code. Some company will do something like post a QR Code in a commercial spot during a Super Bowl and generate a lot of publicity. Case in point; if you have an Android or Blackberry, go to the app store and download a QR reader. Subsequently, point the camera at the code I have posted in this blog and see where you end up. Leave a comment about your experience below, I’m very interested in your feedback.

You can play around with your own QR codes you generate at websites like http://qrcode.kaywa.com/.

What are ways you think you might use QR Codes within your eye care business? Share them here and tweet them to me with the hash #URQR.

As always, please feel free to leave a comment or question about any topic I’ve written about below!

- Alan N. Glazier, OD, FAAO
Founder/CEO
Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care
Rockville, MD

Twitter Handle: @EyeInfo
Blog: eyeinfo.wordpress.com
Website: YourEyeSite.com