Acceptance of New Bar Codes (QR codes) in Poland - Not Just yet
Marta Koszko
Abstract
To function in a gadget-oriented society, following the latest technologies is inevitable. Not being up-to-date with the advanced devices and their applications may place one with those perceived as ignorant or technologically illiterate. Quick Response (QR) codes that have infiltrated Poland are one such innovation. These new barcodes serve various communicative purposes, e.g. these stamp-like squares hold information about a product, a service, or a location. While this technology has been a success in many other European countries, for Poland, enriching public space with QR codes does not appear to be practical. The aim of the study was to gauge the people’s attitude towards the placement and usefulness of the QR codes in presenting different sorts of information. The focus was to determine whether QR codes improved communication and access to information. The responses revealed that QR codes were not seen as essential in all contexts and their presence might have led to the information exclusion of people who did not own the devices with a barcode scanner application. For this reason, some may declare the new codes as a communication failure. At least for now, the QR codes could be placed "between communicative support and hindrance".
Keywords: Technology, QR codes, Communication, Information Exclusion, Public Space.
Introduction
Many years ago, discussions around the notion of space and communication focused mainly on the interactions between the elements of space, space users, and how these communicators and space were intertwined. Since telephones and personal computers providing access to the Internet were confined to homes and office and were rarely used in open urban space, these were left out of the dialogue about public urban space. With the rapid technological advances in communication and theories and practices about the use of public space, a new insight and models have surfaced to address and adjust to the changing urban reality. For example, locative media projects – street games – combine three elements: (1) location of a user, (2) “electronic world of information and the system of interaction”, and (3) the concept of augmented reality (Drakopoulou, 2013, p. 4).
It seems that functioning in the present day urban space reality requires more than just the basic communicative skills from the average space user. The production of urban space is based on devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, Google Glass, and other similar applications that allow for scanning, screening, tracking, navigating, and retrieving information. The question becomes: Is a simple space user supported or burdened by these gadgets and their applications in the urban space?
When discussing technological advancements people often wonder whether so many devices are necessary. Many may conclude that instead of being helpful in communication, these may be a hindrance in communication. Therefore, the question arises what influence the latest technologies can have in granting or hindering access to information from the public space.
This paper aims to scrutinize a specific technological innovation – the QR codes and their informative/communicative functions. The main issues addressed are:
QR codes and urban space
QR code – Quick Response Code - are “ a form of two-dimensional (2D) barcode”, or “camera-readable hypertext tags that eliminate the need to type in a long URL on a mobile device” (Aguila & Breen, 2011, p.1). The idea is not new as the QR codes started around 1994. Since the older barcodes were limited in capacity, a new bar code that was capable of holding more data was introduced. The older barcode could store a dozen numeric pieces of data; the QR codes are capable of storing up to 7,089 numeric pieces of data (Aguila & Breen, 2011, p.1).
O’Hara and Kindberg (2007) suggest that QR codes are a kind of connection between physical places and the content. QR codes can, therefore, be seen as a link between an abstract image of space and space users.
As a means to store information, the QRs should also be treated as a medium for storing and transmitting information. McLuhan (1964) argued that consumers not only related to but also became dependent on technologies. In the present day, may have posited that by gaining access to many technological devices (smartphones, tablets, Google Glass), the users may become dependent on these devices to the extent that these gadgets begin to shape our behavior, relationships, and interactions with other people. Despite the benefits of these devices, it is also likely that some people could misuse or abuse these gadgets (e.g. widely discussed privacy concerns with Google Glass or the controversies over tracking of people with the use of smartphones).
In his notion of the "global village", McLuhan (1964) reasoned that as people become connected, they also become interdependent. McLuhan's village was connected through television and movies - visual media independent of text and literacy. The village did not include all corners of the