QRCs, T-Shirts, Pick-Up Lines and Smartphones

QRC 

This week I walked into a Walgreens store with my wife and saw that all of the employees were wearing T-Shirts with QRCs (quick response codes) on their sleeves.  The clerk did not know what they were.  Being me, I walked up to the clerk and asked if I could scan his sleeve.

I used the Redlaser app on my iPhone to scan the QRC.  It launched a website about an upcoming walk the company was sponsoring to raise funds to fight some disease.  I thought the whole incident was humorous.

Employees are walking around with coded messages on their clothes with messages they do not know.  However, it did get me thinking, which is not always useful.

What if people that are hanging out at pubs all started wearing QRCs on their clothes?  If you are interested in a person, you can simply walk up to them and scan their QRC, which would launch a website with their details.  Seems like an efficient way to learn about a person without actually having to talk to them.

First impressions would be of out-stretched hands with a smartphone pointing at them.  You would need to pay particular attention to the way your hand and smartphone looked.  You would need to think about the impression your particular smartphone would give your victim.  Is it a feminine phone, or a male phone?  Is it large, rugged and industrial, or small and shiny?

I imagine this could launch a whole new breed of "pick-up lines."

PSION EP10

"Do you often get scanned in here?"

Perhaps people would start wearing multiple QRCs on their clothes, each with a different message.  When a person approaches with their out-stretched hand preparing to scan you, you can quickly decide which QRC to expose.

QRCs can evolve into a whole new pub language.  Perhaps you can have different QRCs all over your clothes.   Complete conversations could be conducted simply by exposing different QRCs.  

I am going to stop thinking now.

Join me this week for a webinar called, Making Sense of Mobile Middleware!  I just completed writing a full whitepaper on this subject and will be sharing the details on this webinar.  I hope to see you there.

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus

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Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.