With 2D barcodes forming part of the registration process at the popular South by Southwest 'SXSW' technology conference and music festival held in Austin, Texas this March, barcodes seem to have infiltrated virtually every aspect of the event. There have been at least two SXSW technology conference sessions covering 2D barcodes, along with a Scavenger Hunt from Eset using text and barcodes along with another barcode competition run by Chevy.
In addition to being included on the attendees' name tags, 2D barcodes have been built into the event's printed program. For example, scanning the barcode that appears on page 89 of the program will take the handset's owner straight to a SXSW microsite intended for first-time visitors. The microsite is optimized for mobile phones, showing how easily they can guide users to relevant information.
The Scavenger Hunt created by Eset was a destination-based game combining QR codes with SMS.
Participants merely had to scan the QR code on the card they had received at the start of the hunt. They followed the prompts to send text messages to the shortcode '68542.' The first 100 users to complete the Scavenger Hunt won a copy of ESET (News - Alert)'s antivirus software -valued at $50 - and were entered for the grand prize of a $2,000 Sony VAIO laptop.
Chevrolet decked out its latest automobiles with CR codes. These codes directed handset browsers toward a dedicate microsite that provided demonstrates key features of each of the three vehicles presented at the festival. For example, a QR code affixed to one of the hood of the Cruze led attendees to information about its 1.4-liter, Ecotec turbocharged engine. Users could also choose to answer the question, 'What role has Chevy played in film or music?'
Twomajor tech sessions covered 2D barcodes at SXSW. The first was entitled 'Building a Bridge with Barcodes - The QR Code Invasion' and was chaired by Evan Jones of Stitch Media. He described himself as 'an innovator of QR code technology.' One of the subjects Mr. Evans tackled was, 'Why did CBC's The Border: Interactive use of QR codes prove so successful?'
The second tech session was entitled 'QR Codes and 2D Barcodes: Bridging Physical and Digital.' The panel explored how barcode technologies could create a link between the physical and online worlds. Apparently, these links are often referred to as physical hyper-links.
Panelists included moderator Antony McGregor Dey from QMCODES, Dustin Haisler, Evan Jones, Google's Daniel Switkin, and technology writer Stan Wiechers.
Unfortunately, SXSW attendees weren't readily pointed toward a site like TMCnet where they could easily download a one of many 2D barcode scanner clients for their handsets if they didn't already have one.
Tony Dennis is a freelance writer and communications consultant. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi