QR codes are ugly.

Forget arguing about if they are cool or useful or if they work, above all else they are ugly.

I spoke with Claire Boonstra, founder of Layar, about why QR codes (“quick response” codes, like bar codes, can be scanned using a smartphone’s camera) do not stand a chance, and it is due largely to their design.

There is technology that will be available to the masses within 12 months that will do everything a QR code can do and more, without the actual QR code.

Augmented reality, something we have talked about for years as coming soon, is at our doorsteps and is set to supplant QR as the interactive print marketing technology of choice.

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Listening to Claire explain it, it sure seems like the QR code is a dead man walking.

Layar Augmented Reality

After hearing it explained, can you see ANY way that QR codes can survive?

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