Can You Read a QR Code in a Dream? - Thought Experiments From Cognitive Science

QR Codes in Dreams - Can the Brain Reproduce Patterns?

Many people have probably had the experience of trying to read a book in a dream, only for the letters to blur or the content to change as they read. This is said to be because activity in the brain's language processing areas (Broca's area and Wernicke's area) declines during dreams. So what about QR codes?

It is theoretically possible to "see" a QR code in a dream. Because the brain generates dreams by reconstructing past visual experiences, QR codes could well appear in the dreams of people who see them every day. However, the chance that such a QR code is "an accurate pattern storing valid data" is extremely low.

Even a Version 1 QR code (21 x 21 modules) does not work unless the black-and-white arrangement of its 441 modules is accurate. Reproducing a pattern with this much precision is difficult for the brain even with conscious memory. It is reasonable to think that a QR code in a dream is "something QR code-like," not an accurate pattern that can be scanned. This is the same principle by which clocks in dreams do not show the correct time.

QR Codes for Blind People

The QR code is a technology that depends on sight. Then are QR codes completely irrelevant to people with visual impairments?

In fact, by combining them with smartphone accessibility features, people with visual impairments can also benefit from QR codes. VoiceOver on iOS and TalkBack on Android announce by voice when the camera detects a QR code, and read aloud the content of the linked page. The "scan" of a QR code itself depends on sight, but because the code is detected automatically when the camera is pointed in roughly the right direction, there is no need to "see" the QR code precisely.

As a more fundamental approach, research on adding tactile cues to QR codes is also advancing. Methods include showing "There is a QR code here" in Braille around the QR code, or installing raised markers that indicate the QR code's position. A company called NaviLens has developed a special code optimized for people with visual impairments (detectable from a greater distance and at wider angles than a normal QR code), and it has been introduced in public transportation in Barcelona and New York.

Can Animals Recognize QR Codes?

How do animals other than humans perceive QR codes? This question is an interesting thought experiment for understanding animal visual cognition.

Primates: Chimpanzees and bonobos have visual abilities close to those of humans and are also excellent at pattern recognition. With training, they could probably identify a QR code as "a specific pattern" and associate it with a reward. However, they cannot understand the "meaning" of a QR code (the stored data).

Birds: Crows and parrots have high visual cognitive abilities and are known to be able to identify individual human faces. They can recognize the black-and-white pattern of a QR code as a "design," but they do not have the cognitive ability to understand that it stores information.

Insects: Honeybees can perceive ultraviolet light and look for nectar using the nectar guides of flowers (ultraviolet patterns invisible to humans) as cues. If a QR code were printed with ultraviolet ink, you could make a QR code that honeybees can see but humans cannot. However, whether honeybees would recognize a QR code as a "pattern" is doubtful, considering their visual resolution (far lower than that of humans).

Is the QR Code a "Language" or a "Sign"?

From the perspective of linguistics, can the QR code be called a "language"? There are various theories on the definition of language, but generally the conditions are said to be (1) being a system of meaningful signs, (2) being combinable according to grammatical rules, and (3) being able to generate new meanings.

The QR code satisfies (1). The black and white modules are meaningful signs, and their arrangement represents data. It also partially satisfies (2). The QR code has strict structural rules (the placement of the finder patterns, the order of the data region, and the rules for generating error correction codewords), and these correspond to a grammar. As for (3), because it can store any text or URL, it can generate new meanings without limit.

However, the QR code is fundamentally different from natural languages in that it is not intended to be "read" directly by humans. The QR code is "a language for machines to read," and humans can access its content only through its translator (the smartphone). This is a new category of sign system, qualitatively different from alphabets and kanji, which humans can understand directly.

Will Humans 100 Years From Now Be Able to Understand QR Codes?

This is the final thought experiment. If modern civilization collapsed for some reason and humans 100 years from now discovered printed QR codes, would they be able to decipher them?

The QR code specification has been standardized internationally as ISO/IEC 18004, and the specification document is publicly available. If the specification survives, it is theoretically possible for someone with knowledge of mathematics and logic to decode a QR code by hand. The mathematical foundation of the Reed-Solomon code is universal and does not depend on any particular technology or platform.

On the other hand, if the specification were lost, deciphering QR codes would become a challenge comparable to deciphering ancient scripts. Just as the Rosetta Stone made it possible to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs, if a "Rosetta Stone" for QR codes (a pair of known data and its corresponding QR code) were found, it might be possible to work backward to the specification from the regularities of the patterns. However, restoring even the mathematical structure of error correction would likely be an extremely advanced intellectual task.