QR Codes are back?
January 04, 2017
Their inclusion is on the rise. Why?
Since discovering a QRcode reader on my Nokia N95 in 2007 and Googling QRcode reader, followed by the fact I could create them myself with ease to pursue the paperless dream as an event organiser I've been a QRcode advocate.
The humble QR code has had a bit of a rough ride over the last 10 years through misplaced inception and shirt tails gimmickry without audience consciousness, rather than the QR code being a mechanism devoid of use. Its inherent usefulness has kept its obsolescence at bay.
The success of the QRcode is in the hands of users. Is what is contained beneath it worth scanning? A few disappointing "I could have just typed that in" remarks and the fate of the QRcode was momentarily sealed.
The QRcode came back to my attention with my interest in the rise of Snapchat. The emergence to the mainstream of augmented reality (AR) after PokemonGO took the world by storm for a brief and bright time in 2016 started the trend along with the
The emergence to the mainstream of augmented reality (AR) after PokemonGO took the world by storm for a brief and bright time in 2016 started an acceptance of AR along with the adventures into AR from agencies using it to bring packaging and adverts to life to crayon makers Crayola adding animation to children's colouring books, I feel a comeback might be on the 2017 cards.
This proximity connection and entry to engagement demanded from Spapchat intrigued me. Snapchat not being immediately intuitive seemed to be a feature, users liked. Being in a club with a secret knock is a desirable hurdle, the learning curve to successfully engage seems accepted too. It's those on the outside who complain. A fascinating psychology in the age of usability. I recently stumbled upon Twitter's QR code and scanner tucked away in the profile settings and in Facebook's Messenger.
The attraction of QR (quick response) and AR (augmented reality) technology is their capacity to bring the user closer to the event they are experiencing. Technology should always add more with technology aided engagement and this has been the QR and AR technology's nemesis. In Theatre, the concepts of 'fourth wall' and 'suspension of disbelief' are intertwined with the experience of live theatre. The art of audience participation is a fundamental to the success of a scene where the fourth wall is broken and those in attendance willing to surrender to knowledge that a piece of like theatre is actors on a stage with scenery, lights and sound are all played out to fool the senses. It's a key ingredient to stage successful stage hypnotists. Trust and belief in a valuable outcome. The dawn of QR, AR even VR is akin to convincing a 12-year-old that the magic tricks performed by a children's entertainer at a party for a 5-year-old are magic.
The art of audience participation is a fundamental to the success of a scene where the fourth wall is broken and those in attendance willing to surrender to knowledge that a piece of like theatre is actors on a stage with scenery, lights and sound are all played out to fool the senses. It's a key ingredient to stage successful stage hypnotists. Trust and belief in a valuable outcome. The dawn of QR, AR even VR is akin to convincing a 12-year-old that the magic tricks performed by a children's entertainer at a party for a 5-year-old are magic.
Event Organisers no matter how corporately shiny or humbly low-key have to secure that trust to bring the extended possibilities participation with technology affords. You have to find the 5-year-old sole before the 12-years-old worldly sceptic is invoked!
When I first got a mobile phone to be a phone that was mobile it was to call phones that tended not to be mobile. "Why would anyone text when I can phone?" I thought when I discovered the text messaging function. My experience with QR codes and people reflects the same sentiment. Early adopters make way to consumers, mediating that transition (minus the wonder) is the grail for an event organiser considering tech for the audience. Who is the technology for? Our amusement, our validation or as audience experience. Less has always been more. Too much awe diminishes awesomeness.
Early adopters make way to consumers, often reluctant adopters. Mediating that transition (minus the wonder) is the grail for an event organiser considering tech for the audience. Who is the technology introduced for? Our amusement and wonder, validation and data collection or as an extension to the audience experience?Less has always been more. Too much awe diminishes awesomeness.
Less has always been more. Too much awe diminishes awesomeness.
Twitter building a functioning general QRcode scanner into its native app is very interesting.