The Prevalence of QR Codes in Contemporary Life
Imagine this: You enter a busy restaurant, hungry for your favorite meal. Rather than page through a printed menu, you’re given a table tent containing a pixelated black-and-white box and instructed, “Scan this QR code.”
This small square has now become a doorway to everything — from looking at menus to paying, ordering groceries, visiting websites, and even verifying documents. Particularly in India, QR codes have become a symbol of a new digitally first lifestyle. But do you know where it all started?
Let’s go back to Japan in the mid-1990s, when an inquisitive engineer got the idea for a technology that now energizes billions of digital transactions daily by looking at an old board game.
What Is a QR Code?
A QR code or Quick Response code is a two-dimensional matrix barcode consisting of black and white squares. While traditional barcodes are one-dimensional and contain limited data, QR codes can contain thousands of characters and be scanned from any direction, even if partially destroyed.
The Spark of Innovation: Inspired by a Board Game
Masahiro Hara, an engineer at Denso Wave (Toyota’s subsidiary), was playing the traditional Japanese board game Go in 1994 when he observed something interesting. The black-and-white stones that alternated, laid out on a grid, reminded him of how data could be expressed in two dimensions.
During that time, Hara encountered problems in the automobile industry. Boxes of auto parts had several barcodes, so employees would have to scan them individually — a time-consuming, unproductive process. Hara felt sure there had to be a more effective method.
Motivated by Go, he imagined a 2D barcode able to hold far more information and be read more quickly. This concept would serve as the basis for the QR code.
Prior to QR Codes: Limitations of Barcodes
Barcodes were not new. Even their invention lies way back, in 1949, when inventors Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver registered a process to encode data employing concentric circles — a run-up to the vertical-line barcode.
It did not become economically viable to use barcode scanning till the 1960s when the laser had been invented. Even then, adoption was gradual because there existed no standardised symbol.
In the early 1970s, the US grocery industry formed a committee which resulted in the development of the Universal Product Code (UPC) — the verticle barcode we are familiar with today. The UPC barcode was scanned for the first time in 1974 at a Troy, Ohio, store.
The UPC barcodes had some significant weaknesses:
- Low data volume (around 20 characters)
- One-dimensional design
- Unreadable if damaged
- Read only in one specific orientation
These constraints posed serious challenges, particularly in complex manufacturing processes like automotive assembly.
Reimagining the Barcode: How Hara Built the QR Code
Hara and his team at Denso Wave created a 2D code that could hold 7,000+ characters, or 350 times as much information as the UPC barcode.
There was a catch.
When these new square codes were printed alongside other text or images, scanners had trouble detecting them. One day, while commuting, Hara gazed out at the Tokyo skyline and saw how skyscrapers popped in the cityscape. This inspired him to create three different position markers (those three squares in the corners of each QR code) to assist scanners in finding and reading the code no matter the orientation or background noise.
This brilliant modification provided QR codes with an advantage: they could now be read even if smudged, partially broken, or skewed.
From Assembly Lines to ISO Certification
Originally intended for use in Toyota’s manufacturing plants, QR codes were found to be extremely useful in tracing parts. Denso Wave, rather than patenting the QR code for financial gain, released it for free, which led to widespread use.
In 2000, QR technology was ISO-certified in Japan, validating its application outside the automotive industry.
Global Adoption: QR Codes Go Mainstream
Japan was where QR code was born, yet its global success came years later — and, amazingly, not from Japan.
By 2012, most companies around the world had written off QR codes as a flash in the pan. In China, however, the technology experienced a resurgence.
WeChat-like apps made QR codes a part of everyday transactions — payments, discounts, app login, contact swaps — and made them a key feature of the digital landscape.
Such effortless marriage with smartphones rendered QR codes viable again. And soon, the world followed suit.
The Indian Digital Leap: UPI + QR Codes
India’s digital payments revolution was driven by the union of two formidable technologies: QR codes and UPI (Unified Payments Interface).
Designed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI enabled multiple bank accounts to be linked to mobile apps for immediate money transfers. Coupled with QR codes, it enabled:
- Instant, contactless payments
- Peer-to-peer transactions
- Merchant transactions without terminal
The outcome? Growth that’s been explosive.
UPI transactions in India stood at ₹24.77 trillion in value and 19.78 billion in number in March 2025 alone.
From street stalls to high-end boutiques, QR code stickers are the new cash registers.
Why QR Codes Worked in India (and Didn’t Catch On in Japan)?
Although born in Japan, QR code adoption there has been sluggish. The nation still relies on cash for the majority of transactions. Cultural norms and a risk-averse financial culture held back digital adoption.
India, on the other hand, had the right ingredients:
- A huge unbanked population
- Affordable smartphones
- Government-supported digital push
- Covid-19 speeding up contactless interactions
Even coconut vendors and roadside chai stalls now accept payments via QR codes — unthinkable a decade ago.
How the Pandemic Revived QR Codes?
The Covid-19 pandemic spurred a worldwide move to contactless everything — shopping, eating, paying, and even medical check-ups. QR codes were a hygienic, frictionless solution.
Companies that had dismissed QR codes started utilizing them for:
- Menu access
- Visitor registration
- Product authentication
- Marketing campaigns
Suddenly, the world remembered what Hara had invented almost 30 years before.
Fun Facts About QR Codes
- First developed in 1994 by Masahiro Hara
- Drawn inspiration from the board game Go
- Become royalty-free courtesy of Denso Wave
- Can contain up to 7,089 numeric characters
- Scannable from any angle
- Still readable if 30% of it is destroyed
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Who invented the QR code?
Masahiro Hara, an engineer at Denso Wave in Japan, invented the QR code in 1994.
2. What does QR stand for?
QR stands for “Quick Response,” referring to how fast the code can be scanned and interpreted.
3. Are QR codes safer than barcodes?
Yes. QR codes can be encrypted and often include error correction, making them more secure and robust than traditional barcodes.
4. Can a QR code work without the internet?
Yes. Offline data such as contact information, calendar appointments, or Wi-Fi passwords can be stored in QR codes. Yet, if the QR code refers to a website or application, internet access is needed.
5. What is the application of QR codes in India?
Basically for mobile payments through UPI, but also for menus, tickets, check-ins, Aadhaar verification, and government services.
6. Do QR codes expire?
Others do, particularly those created by time-limited apps or associated with temporary URLs. Static QR codes don’t but will expire when the content gets deleted.
7. What is a dynamic QR code?
It permits editing of the destination (such as a website) after the code is printed, contrary to static QR codes.
8. Why are QR codes prominent during Covid-19?
They provided a touch-free, safe way to access payments, forms, menus, and services — ideal for pandemic hygiene.
9. Is it safe to scan any QR code?
Not necessarily. Phishing sites can be caused by malicious QR codes. Always check the source first before scanning.
10. Why hasn’t Japan embraced QR payments as much?
Cash cultural preference and risk-averse banking practice have hindered uptake, but this is slowly reversing after Covid.
Conclusion: A Small Square That Transformed the World
Starting as an idea for a board game, ending as a global technology phenomenon, the QR code is one of digital history’s greatest underdog inventions. Masahiro Hara’s invention revolutionized industries, made digital economies possible, and served as a lifeline in a world pandemic.
Whether you’re paying for your groceries, opening a website, or using a government service, you probably are dealing with a QR code — a small square with an enormous impact.
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