Use of mobile barcodes - Korea Case Study
QR codes have been in use in Japan for many years now, and have started to gain popularity elsewhere. They can be found everywhere in Tokyo, from the Subway adverisments, business cards, and even entry stamps in passports.
http://www.denso-wave.com/qrcode/qrfeature-e.html
| QR Code Data capacity | |
| Numeric only | Max. 7,089 characters |
| Alphanumeric | Max. 4,296 characters |
| Binary (8 bits) | Max. 2,953 bytes |
| Kanji, full-width Kana | Max. 1,817 characters |
As you can see QR can contain a substantial amount of information, however, this information is static, and relies upon having a QR reader.
In Korea, an alternative approach has been widely adopted to utilise the high average phone capabilities, and also the takeup rate for new mobile services. Using standard 1 dimensional barcodes, which can be read by standard barcode readers, an entire user profile can be called.
While in Korea, my girlfriend used her phone on many occasions for this purpose. Full purchasing of cinema tickets and ski lift passes are common, and the payment is added to the users airtime bill. These barcodesare then scanned at the checkout desks to confirm payment, and swap for the voucher. In addition to full payment, subscriptions to discount schemes prove to be popular too. A code is sent to the users device allowing them discount on a variety of services.
Eventually we should start to see such systems in the UK, and the rest of the world, but the take up of new technologies is slow.
This is exactly what I expected to find out after reading the title o.us poetry. Thanks for informative article
Hi,
thank you for your study about mobile barcode in Korea!
We saw that the Data Matrix Code - compared to the QR Code - is used by the rest of the world (exept Japan and Korea) and that there is a sigificant knowledge about scanning Data Matrix Codes within production sites (automotive, airplane industry, pharmaceutical industry, tabacco industry, etc.) for about 20 years at least. We used this experience for scanning Data Matrix Codes from mobile handsets’ displays.
Secondly the Data Matrix Code is without licence costs…
Therefore for our Matrix PicTicket solution we use the Data Matrix Code together with optimized scanners for mobile tickets integrated in a electronic entrance equipment.
PicTickets can be used for concerts, events, etc., PicCoupons can be used as mobile coupons to be redeemed at the POS, PicTAN for mobile payments at the POS.
Please feel free to contact us in case of further interest.
Jacques Kruse Brandao
MATRIX Solutions / PicTicket
www.matrixsolutions.de/en
www.picticket.com