HIDDEN QR CODE in CAPSEALS
by Ken Lim
A GLIMPSE OF A CONTACTLESS FUTURE
In these past few years, we begin to see a growing amount of strangely arranged squares made of black and white smaller squares being plastered all over. From retail stores to banks down to your usual street stalls, this new standard of transfer of information have encroached and embedded into today’s modern society. These patterns namely called “QR code” is a new form of barcode.
A question come to mind; why do we need QR code or even barcodes in the first place? Norman Joseph Woodland was introduced a problem by his friend Bernard Silver. That problem was to find a way to read product information during checkout at grocery stores. During that time period, cashiers would punch in each product price individually which requires large amount of time and labor. Woodland later had his eureka moment when he formed his first barcode based on Morse Code. They later patented the idea with the systems to read it.
Fast forward to 1994 Japan, Masahiro Hara was working on an issue at his company, Denso Wave. He was developing a method to improve the barcode as it is limited to at amount of information it can be scan. Sometimes, some would scan multiple barcodes for one product. Masahiro Hara later departed from the fixation of barcodes and found his answer to the problem during a game of “Go”. He saw how he could arrange information in a square plane and developed a way to read the black and white pieces with precision and speed.
“Unlike barcodes, which operate simply horizontally, we needed a system that could also accumulate information vertically. This way, the integration of data could be multiplied.” - Masahiro Hara
The company later announce the release of the QR code which stands for quick response, amicably named for its focus on high-speed reading. Denso Wave push forward amidst its cold reaction at the start but soon after, it was being adopted by many industries which later made QR code an indispensable vessel to carry essential information. With the technology being open to the public, QR code later swept through the world and being embraced by many.
What happen when QR code hidden in Capseals
In the use case of Cap Seal liners, what are the benefits of using such technology? By embedding QR codes with the cap liner, it restricts important information from being viewed normally on outside packaging and allow customers to scan and authenticate the product. This greatly strengthens the security and validation of the product which in turn allow customers to avoid being scammed. It also allows better product tracing which allows manufacturers to keep track and have better control over their products. It also allows better interaction for customers to access such information using QR code due to its wide adoption along with the mass availability to scan it. The addition of QR codes can work in tandem with campaigns to promote products too. The introduction of QR codes into Cap Seal liners welcomes benefits of product security alongside brand protection.