QR codes were supposed to revolutionise every industry in 2012. Most marketing people really tried to "sell" this, without users actually adopting it. In 2020 you can't walk down a city street without encountering a QR code on e-scooters, restaurant tables or posters. How did this actually start? And what could it mean for our office buildings?
QR stands for "Quick Response" and is a matrix code that originated in Japan. It was developed by the company Denso-Wave in 1994 to be just as quick to scan as a barcode but able to hold much more information. This is what makes the technology behind QR so exciting. A barcode has a maximum capacity of about 20 characters; by comparison, a QR code can contain several thousand characters. The largest version (version 40) can contain more than 4,000 alphanumeric characters. It actually has enough characters to store a simple game!
It was in factories and warehouses that the QR code first found a use – to keep track of inventory. But it was marketing departments that made this "square" widely known, in the form of posters, products and advertisements. In the wake of the iPhone launch in 2007, the QR code was seen as a modern and new tool for every marketing department to adapt to the new mobile and digital world. It did not take long before QR codes appeared on most marketing materials, but the friction in the customer experience was too high. First, you had to download a separate app to scan the codes, and you often ended up on a company website that wasn't even mobile-optimised. There were also examples of advertising posters in the underground that were not large enough – to scan the code you actually had to take a life-endangering step across the tracks!
The contributor recalls from 2012 that no one scanned the freshly printed business cards with QR codes, even though one stood hopefully waiting at seminars. For the construction industry, possibilities for QR codes began to be seen in 2017 when FM systems started integrating verification options with QR codes.
The QR code has had a gradual increase in use and popularity since then. As can be observed in search statistics available from Google Trends, there were three phases in this growth. The second phase came during the crypto boom of 2016 and 2017. A crypto wallet, or crypto account, has a long unique string of letters and numbers that is impossible to remember, and it can be expensive if you type it wrong. The QR code became a welcome solution for sharing and facilitating crypto transfers. Fast-forwarding to 2020, we see how the COVID pandemic triggered the third QR phase. Industries in hospitality that were severely affected needed to find ways to prevent the spread of infection. By using QR codes, people could find the right food and drink, order and pay, without having contact with other people in the form of queuing, menus or service. Food can also then be collected in an organised manner where apps push notifications back when different people are to collect their orders.
Often it takes a crisis for technology to emerge – just look at the rise of cryptocurrency, which came in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008.
In addition we have seen major players like Vipps, WhatsApp, Snapchat and Spotify, among others, adopt the QR code in their own or more open formats.
But why has it taken so long for QR codes to become universally adopted? Well, as always with new technology, we often get high expectations, then a decline, before finding their place. QR codes have always had great potential. With so much data, it was incredible how much one could do. But the problem was that no one thought about the end user and how they would access this data.
Until recently you typically needed a separate app to read QR codes; now Apple and most Android versions have integrated this into the camera function. In addition it is an incredibly simple technology to generate – all you need is a "QR code generator" easily found on Google. Other contactless technologies like "Bluetooth beacons" and NFC, which we use for example in contactless payment, require more technology and investment to adopt.
Now that everyone has become acquainted with QR codes and seen how easy they are to use, what role will contactless technology play in our commercial buildings going forward?
We believe contactless technology is important going forward.
In 2012 Hagenes thought everyone would scan the 5,000 freshly printed business cards with the magic code on the back – where all information would automatically be saved on the smartphone. But there was great disappointment when only one person scanned it. In 2017 there were some sparks in the FM industry activating "sign-off" of work tasks via QR codes. Fast-forwarding to 2020, the hippest restaurants and bars as well as all e-scooters have adopted this technology. We hope our buildings can also benefit from this. Perhaps it is the QR code that enables data to be shared freely and where the user experience is the focus in a simple way?
We have tried to consider what we think could be affected in the short and slightly longer term!
Did you know that by scanning a simple QR code, you can automatically make a phone log in to the right Wi-Fi with the right password? Imagine having such a sticker – which can also have a logo as part of the QR code – and "voilà", it works every time! No more capital letters and number conflicts. According to site manager Therese Hagenes at Proptech Bergen, this reduced "support requests" for meeting rooms by 95%.
Have you ever sat at your desk and wondered what the actual temperature is? How is it controlled? And how can I give feedback that this isn't good enough? Here QR codes are also perfect – and companies like Airthings have activated exactly this feature on all sensors. You can simply scan a code that opens a page showing your indoor climate data and easily tells you whether you have a good or poor indoor climate.
Try scanning to see how the article authors are doing in their office right now!
What if you are in a large building, want to report a fault or want to buy some food? Since the QR code can also contain this metadata, information about your location can easily be part of the QR code. In this way the recipient also has the necessary information. The same QR code can also go directly to the building's FM system – the system in which all building deviations are registered.
By giving each room its own QR code, it provides opportunities to easily register cleaning. NTNU has now adopted QR codes outside reading rooms and lecture halls to simplify contact tracing. If a student is subsequently found to have an infection, others who checked into the room during the same period can be notified.
At the other end of the scale, the home care service in Kristiansund municipality has recently introduced QR code scanning in and out at all residents. This has created a lot of conflict among employees who feel unnecessarily monitored.
Many people talk about advanced sensors to count people in offices. But you could actually solve the whole puzzle with a QR code if everyone "checks in" when entering and leaving their office – provided they actually use it!
The QR code is actually a free sensor everyone can adopt!
Several providers have come up with access control solutions that replace plastic cards with mobile phones. However, they are often dependent on being connected to the right Wi-Fi network or having Bluetooth activated. Newer solutions instead let the user scan a QR code displayed on the phone screen towards door and lift openers. This can feel more secure and seamless.
As with all technology, the QR code had high expectations but few used it initially. In fact, a dedicated website was created mocking the QR code, showing how many people scanned QR codes in 2012 – and there were no entries yet.
We believe the key to the success we are now seeing is a combination of technological changes and various crises over the years. We have seen that during crypto booms the QR code has had a marked increase in use, as QR codes simplified the use of the technology. Mobility solutions for urban cities have probably also been a contributor. In addition, when COVID-19 requires us to change, we adopt both new and old technology. And now that phones have QR code scanning built into the camera, this "old technology" has been given a whole new life through seamless and easy use of the data.
QR codes are a powerful tool that we see is starting to change the hospitality industry. The world as we know it has changed. The potential in our buildings is great and it will be exciting to see whether all meeting rooms and offices will have a QR code going forward and what opportunities this can give us.
What could your company solve with such a simple and easy technology that is simultaneously so powerful? Is there something you can do in 2 minutes today that could give a "wow" feeling in the building or save countless hours?
You're not solving contact tracing with pen and paper that isn't contactless? Or do you have the Wi-Fi password on a whiteboard that's half wiped off?
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