The History of QR Codes - From Auto Parts Management to Global Standard
Born from Barcode Limitations
In the early 1990s, Toyota's production lines used barcodes for parts management. However, barcodes stored limited information, requiring multiple barcodes per part. Slow scanning also bottlenecked production efficiency.
Denso's (now Denso Wave) development team set out to create "a code that stores more information and reads faster." Lead developer Masahiro Hara has said the idea for a two-dimensional grid arrangement came to him while playing Go during lunch break.
1994 - The QR Code Is Born
In 1994, Denso announced the QR Code (Quick Response Code). True to its name, high-speed reading was its defining feature. It read about 10 times faster than barcodes and stored tens to hundreds of times more data.
Initially used for auto parts management, Denso Wave decided not to exercise its QR code patent rights. This decision became the biggest factor in QR codes spreading worldwide.
2000s - Adoption in Japan
In 2002, mobile phones with built-in QR code readers appeared, bringing QR codes to everyday consumers. QR codes began appearing on magazine ads, product packaging, and business cards.
In 2004, QR codes were adopted as international standard ISO/IEC 18004, recognizing this Japanese technology as a world standard. However, overseas adoption remained limited at this point.
The on-site challenges behind its development
Behind the birth of the QR code were pressing circumstances on the manufacturing floor. A one-dimensional barcode can hold information in only one direction, and the number of characters it can handle is limited. As the variety of parts increased, it became necessary to attach many barcodes to a single box, and the effort of scanning became a burden at the site. To solve this problem, a mechanism that held information in both vertical and horizontal directions, handling much data in a single scan, was needed. Being designed with practicality as the top priority, starting from the troubles of the site, led to its later spread.
The finder patterns that enabled fast reading
A major feature of the QR code is that it can be read quickly from any direction. What achieves this are the square markers placed at three corners of the code. The reader first finds these markers and from them instantly works out the position and orientation of the code. The ratio of these markers is devised so that the same pattern is unlikely to appear by chance within printed matter, so the code alone can be captured accurately without being mistaken for surrounding text or graphics. The quality of being read quickly and reliably was prized on assembly-line sites and determined the value of the technology.
How smartphones changed its use
What greatly changed the way QR codes are used was the spread of smartphones equipped with cameras and communication functions. Once a dedicated reader was needed, but anyone became able to read them on the spot with the device in hand. With this, beyond the original use of factory and logistics management, the stage of activity expanded to every kind of everyday situation, such as payment, information display, authentication, and providing product information. The technology itself has not changed greatly, but because the tool to read them became familiar, its value as a gateway connecting people and information rose all at once.
2010s Onward - Global Adoption
From the 2010s, smartphone proliferation accelerated QR code usage worldwide. In China, WeChat Pay and Alipay drove explosive QR code payment adoption. India saw similar growth through UPI.
Apple's inclusion of QR code scanning in iOS 11's standard camera in 2017 enabled scanning without dedicated apps, boosting Western adoption. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, contactless needs drove QR code adoption for restaurant menus and vaccination certificates, fully embedding them in daily life worldwide.