This is pretty cool! When I read the AP article I started thinking about the book Angels and Demons and Robert Langdon running through Rome following ancient lines in the street, looking for symbols of earth, air, fire and water to save the kidnapped Vatican Cardinals. In a way this use of QR codes is a modern day quest, as well as being fun and informative! The Brazilians have certainly committed to this promotion for tourists by embedding the codes into the sidewalk, but then again I suspect the probability for code-jacking is slim to none – unless you are a mason!
Brazil Makes Tourist Strolls Smartphone-Friendly
via: Brazil makes tourist strolls smartphone-friendly.
RIO DE JANEIRO AP — Rio de Janeiro is mixing technology with tradition to provide tourists information about the city by embedding bar codes into the black and white mosaic sidewalks that are a symbol of the city.
The first two-dimensional bar codes, or QR codes, as they’re known, were installed Friday at Arpoador, a massive boulder that rises at the end of Ipanema beach. The image was built into the sidewalk with the same black and white stones that decorate sidewalks around town with mosaics of waves, fish and abstract images.
The launch attracted onlookers, who downloaded an application to their smartphones or tablets and photographed the icon. The app read the code and they were then taken to a web site that gave them information in Portuguese, Spanish or English, and a map of the area.
Continues at: Brazil makes tourist strolls smartphone-friendly.
