It appeared in 1994 and spread because of Corona.. Here is the story of the invention of the QR code

Japan's Masahiro Hara has revealed some of the secrets of his invention of the "Quick Response Code" (QR code), which is in the form of small black and white squares.

Emma Convery stated, in a report published by the French newspaper "Le Figaro", that the Corona virus pandemic has increased the popularity of the use of the QR code in restaurants, cinemas and various cultural facilities.

Whether it is in order to reach certain places or respect the rules of distancing, the gradual return to normalcy depends in part on the use of mobile applications and QR codes.

The writer indicated that the popularity of the QR code increased during the Corona virus pandemic in France and many countries of the world, and the history of the emergence of this code dates back to 1994, and its inventor, Masahiro Hara, did not mind revealing some secrets related to it.

Japanese original drawing

Masahiro Hara was inspired by the idea of ​​the QR code from the strategy game Go, which involves placing black and white stones on a special board. Masahiro Hara, an engineer at Denso Wave, was developing a new code to store more information. Compared to a bar code that only stores numbers or letters, a QR code can store thousands of global and Asian alphanumeric and alphanumeric codes.

Initially, the QR code was used by Denso, a subsidiary of the Toyota Group, to monitor the production of its own vehicle components. The company popularized the use of the QR code in 1999 by granting a free license to the technology, and the goal of its inventor was to spread this unique technology throughout the year.

QR codes are having a hard time gaining popularity, especially in Europe and the United States. According to statistical data from ComScore, a digital marketing research company, only 20% of Americans used a QR code on their smartphones as of December 2011. This is due to countries not agreeing on a unified international model, which hinders its development.

For users, using a QR code is not easy; But it requires downloading a special app to read it. In 2017, Apple changed the data by updating its iOS 11 system, which can scan codes directly through the camera without the need for a special application. As the QR code struggles to spread in Western countries, it has proven its worth on the Asian continent.

method of payment

The QR code in Asia is used in many places, including town halls, museums, shops, and even on public transportation. For example, readers of Chinese newspapers can scan a QR code to read articles in augmented reality, or view related content such as videos or interviews.

The use of a QR code has gone even further, to include the possibility of making direct payments in China. Masahiro Hara sees two reasons for expanding the use of QR codes in Asia. The first is the possibility of using it without an internet connection in many areas, which lack a developed infrastructure for information technology; Secondly, because it is less expensive compared to bank cards.

"I still have some concerns about the security of the QR code, which is why I want to improve the reliability of the system in the coming years," says Masahiro Hara.

High rates of fraud

Generating a QR code takes just a few seconds, and some sites offer ways to design it individually. The problem is that ease of use can lead to a high rate of fraud and deception of users.

Under the pandemic, cybercriminals have sought to take advantage of the popularity of QR codes and replace legitimate codes with malicious ones so that they can access sensitive user data or conduct prohibited transactions.

In March 2020, Dutch scammers stole money from passersby by asking them to scan a QR code. Then, these people realized that they were the victims of a scam that lost them large sums of money that were deducted from their accounts.

While malicious links can be easily identified, fraudulent QR codes remain undetectable.