QR codes are a great way to encourage readers to follow through to that website, call the number provided, or view whatever other content the author chooses to share. The QR code might even urge the readers to interact with the article or participate in an activity set up by the author.
If an author chooses to link the QR code to an unchanging source, this is called static content. a static content QR code might be

• A simple, consistent message: “Thank you for visiting My Company! We are located at First and Main Street. You can contact us at… ”
• A special offer: “Please enjoy this 10% off coupon code!”
• A video or image: A good option if the company has a welcome video.
• A signup form for a mailing list
• or any other message meant to remain the same over time.

QR codes also provide a fantastic way to expose readers to changing information, otherwise known as dynamic content. A QR code simply sends the user to whatever website is encoded in the image, meaning that the author of a QR code could easily change the content of that website at any time without needing to alter the QR code. An author might also use a service which allows the user to manage the dynamic content of a QR code without the hassle of maintaining and changing a website. Even a business with a static website can use a QR code to offer a giveaway, coupon deals, or other special incentives for scanning the code.  Great uses for a dynamic content QR code include

• A ‘tip of the day’
• A blog or regularly updating website
• A giveaway
• A poll

Dynamic content is a big step in reader-writer communication, but one that could be achieved with a website as well. The most exciting new option with a QR code is an opportunity for direct, instantaneous interaction: now an author can link a QR code to a pre-addressed SMS message that the reader can fill out and send within seconds. This SMS campaign allows the author to send automated texts to the reader as long as the reader allows them. After the campaign has been established, the QR code works like this:

The fewer steps it takes a reader to access a website the more likely they will take time out to visit it, and scanning a QR code requires significantly less effort than writing down a website to view later. However, an author should be aware that more readers will be inclined to scan a QR code if they get something out of the deal instead of simply being asked to sign up for an email list. Including an incentive like a special offer is the key to making the QR code with scanning.

Click here for related articles about QR Code Tattoos

Yes, people are getting QR code tattoos.

A QR code tattoo is not really much different from any other tattoo.  You’ll need a skilled tattoo artist with an accurate hand.  Some QR codes have error correction rates that will allow the tattoo artist to be off on the design by up to 30%, but still produce a readable QR-code.   The average price an experienced tattoo artist charges is about $75-$150 per hour depending on your region of the country.  The best way to get an accurate quote is to bring a sample of the QR code to the tattoo shops you’re considering and ask for a quote.   Remember, the more data contained in the code, the more complex is the QR code, which may make it more difficult to read and more difficult for the tattoo artist to render.

The QR code below included something that is sometimes forgotten: a verbose link to the domain.  It also probably got something wrong: the QR code probably contained too much data making the QR code complex and more difficult to scan.

QR code Tattoo (photo credit: http://randrimagesblog.com)

What’s in a QR Code Tattoo?

• Text (up to 4,296 characters)
• Contact entry (vCard or meCard)
• Calendar entry (vCalendar)
• Hyperlink (URL to text, images, audio, video)
• Telephone number (Phone call)
• SMS/MMS message
• Email (Send message)

The list above are all the different categories of QR-code content.   The top three ,   If you don’t want to deal with maintaining a website, the first three QR Code Styles are your best choices for a tattoo.    Text, contact information, calendar entry, display information directly on a mobile device, but don’t require Internet connection and don’t depend on content from a website.   Although you can store up to 2,000+ characters in a QR-code, remember that the more data a QR code has, the more dots it will have (and the larger it may need to be), so don’t plan on a “War and Peace” tattoo unless you’re tattooing your entire back and your artist is on retainer.

The vCard contact information format has been around for a decade and will probably be around for decades to come.  Some people have gotten QR-Code tattoos that contain vCard contact information.  A business card has always worked for me, but sometimes I run out.

Most marketing QR codes are encoded to display content at a website such as text, images, audio, and video. The good news is that if a QR-code tattoo contains web page content, it can always be changed.  That is, when you’re no longer with “Winona Forever,” you can easily redirect the QR code landing page to “Wino Forever.”   Remember that if you encode a URL in the QR-code tattoo you might want to be sure to pay your domain registration fees 84 years in advance.  It would be rather unfortunate if a domain squatter grabbed your QR Code tattoo target URL and redirected you tattoo to some notorious sex website.

Removing a QR Code Tattoo

Presumably, a tattoo will last for your lifetime.  Can we say the same about QR-codes and the URL’s to which they point?   While QR codes are an emerging technology that hasn’t yet reached a peak, QR-codes are almost certainly to be replaced by some other technology in a human lifetime.  Do you remember film cameras?  Floppy discs?  Wired telephones?  Buggy whips? I suppose when QR-codes are a lesson in the history books, you can have laser removal and folks will just mistake your former QR-code tattoo for a bad rash.  But I digress.

Well, if you’re going to do it anyway, you might want to consider QR code “light”: a micro QR code tattoo.

Or a temporary stick-on QR code tattoo: Click here for related articles about QR Code Tattoos

Micro QR Code

Search term: Laser Tattoo Removal

Use the form below to see what can be encoded in a QR code.

QR CODE GENERATOR 1) Select a QR Code Style 2) Complete the form 3) click GENERATE button Use only the fields you need. Your QR code will be displayed above this form.
QR Code Style:	Contact Details (MECARD) Contact Details (TEXT) Email Address Telephone SMS Text Website Geo-Location (MAP)
Location:
Name:
Job Title:
Business Name:
Website:
Email:
Address:
Telephone:
Info:
Image Size:	1 - 30pixels x 30pixels 2 - 60pixels x 60pixels 3 - 90pixels x 90pixels 4 - 120pixels x 120pixels 5 - 150pixels x 150pixels 6 - 180pixels x 180pixels 7 - 210pixels x 210pixels 8 - 240pixels x 240pixels 9 - 270pixels x 270pixels 10 - 300pixels x 300pixels
Longitude:
Latitude:
Zoom:
Advanced Customization Options Choose Colors plus Text to display above and below the QR Code Image
Text Above Image:
Line1 Below Image:
Line2 Below Image:
Line3 Below Image:
QR Image Background Color:
QR Image Foreground Color:
Margin Area Background Color:
Margin Area Text Color:
Yes, please email me a copy of my QR Code
Yes, I want to get more of your free marketing info to help my business with QR codes and mobile marketing.
Contact Email:

Click here for related articles about QR Code Tattoos

In Spring 2010, Dave’s Bread of Seattle gave away free QR Code Temporary tattoos to attendees that when applied to skin can be snapped with a smartphone’s camera to reveal that they won a tee shirt, a baked good, or a grand prize bag.

QR Code Temporary Tattoo (photo credit: blog.seattlepi.com)

QR Code Temporary Tattoo Call to Action

An important lesson about the QR Code Temporary tattoo is that it had a “Call to Action.”  That is, the promise of a prize  compelled the recipients of the temporary tattoo decals to apply them — and for others to scan them.  Marketers must give prospects a good reason to scan a QR code.

Remember Your Market

Remember the demographics of your prospects.  A QR-code promotion will work well for prospects with smartphones and QR code scanner apps, but won’t work well for a prospects that use phones exclusively for phone calls.

How to make QR Code Temporary Tattoos

Most simply, you can create temporary tattoos with inkjet tattoo paper and an inkjet printer.  The regular QC code rules apply: the QR code must be large enough so that it can be scanned with a smartphone that is positioned several inches away.  The QR code can be color, but the pixels (dots) must have contrast with the QR code background.  An  8.5″ x 11″ sheet of inkjet tattoo paper sells for about five dollars and you can print 40 to 60 QR Code tattoos per sheet.   Temporary tattoo Search Term: Inkjet Tattoo Paper

Where to buy bulk QR Code Temporary Tattoos

Bulk QR code temporary tattoos can be purchased on the Internet and cost from 3-cents to 50-cents each depending on the size and quantity you buy.   Search term: custom temporary tattoos

QR codes to promote bands

The Leo Burnett Advertising Agency created a ‘Hidden Sounds’ QR Code campaign promoting 14 indie bands for Zoo Records, an alternative music store in Hong Kong.    The purpose was to break the monopoly of big music and introduce the public to indie bands.  They created stickers that were shaped like animals having QR Codes all over them. Scanning the various QR codes printed on each animal allowed users to hear the band, read more about them, share them on social media and buy music directly.  read more information about a band and hear their music. They could also purchase the songs directly as well as share them on social media.  The QR code campaign was considered a success as judged by  the volume of sharing on blogs and social networks and half of the 14 bands sold out their albums within the first week.

.

QR codes to solve crimes

In Fond Du Lack County, Wisconsin, Some families are using QR codes in headstones to extend the remembrance of a loved one.  In this case detectives have incorporated a QR code into the headstone of a young woman to help cultivate tips about her murder.

The headstone includes an image of the unknown woman and a QR code.  When someone scans the QR code on the marker, a site is displayed on their smartphone that contains information about the woman and contact information for the Sheriff’s office.

Click for Source

.

Medical Technology executive, Yoav Medan, said “I [didn’t] know what we wanted to write [on my mother's tombstone] and it will never be everything for everyone. By having something that is dynamic and can extend over time, we can capture it,”

Over time, Medan hopes the QR code and memorial site will help create a lasting history of his mother that will live on for generations. “I was most concerned about 20 or 40 years from now, how will she be remembered … [I wanted to put] what’s in our memory into a place that doesn’t forget… The guy who built the tombstone, he wants to make a business out of it,” said Medan.

“People identify with this way of keeping the memory of someone and actually making it dynamic and evolving with time as you remember more,” he said.

Instructions

What: QR codes on gravestones

Why:   The QR code-enabled tombstone creates online digital tributes to our lost loved ones.  Yoav Medan couldn’t decide what to write on his mother’s gravestone, so after discussing it with his family, he attached a QR code to his mother’s grave in Haifa, Israel.

How: How to put a QR code on a gravestone:  The QR code itself is a laser engraving, filled with a black paste, and sits on the tombstone behind a piece of glass.   Scanning the QR code leads visitors to a website that Medan containing stories and photos from his mother’s life.

What do you think of this way of remembering your loved ones? Let us know in the comments.

.

Photos via Digital Life

.

What is QR Code Calibration?

QR code calibration could be used by a museum wanting to provide QR code augmented video to visitors when they view objects on their smart phone screens.  Or it could be used by tour agencies to provided augmented video to visitors on tours.   QR code calibration is most useful if the mobile device doesn’t have built in GPS.  Also, QR code calibration is useful when GPS location is inaccurate or is out of range of GPS transmitters.  QR code calibration for mobile augmented reality was demonstrated in a graduate project by a Kyushu University student in 2011.

Terms

• “Mobile Augmented Reality” describes when  images, video and sounds are added (or overlayed) on a video image, usually a live image, displayed on a video screen.   For example, the commentators on many sports programs use “augmented reality” to draw lines on the screen illustrating sports plays.  Sports programs on TV use augmented reality to show imaginary lines for first downs and to show information about auto racing that seems to be attached to the moving vehicles.   Mobile Augmented Reality is Augmented reality on a smart phone or a video camera or any other mobile device.

Source:  QR code Calibration for Augmented Reality