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Imagine if some construction company created a whole neighborhood that from the right vantage point would be a valid QR code.
by aim4min 3y ago
Imagine if some construction company created a whole neighborhood that from the right vantage point would be a valid QR code.
- poochy 3y agoFun to imagine in the abstract. I used to take classes in a building designed to have a certain appearance from above, and the user experience was definitely the worse for it
- Smoosh 3y agoNot one like this I hope. https://www.googlesightseeing.com/2007/09/the-swastika-building/ https://www.googlesightseeing.com/2007/09/the-swastika-build...
- tomekb 3y agoOld Maxtor campus in Milpitas was supposed to look like an HDD https://goo.gl/maps/JbRWqZseAVL14n167 https://goo.gl/maps/JbRWqZseAVL14n167
- aaron695 3y ago[dead]
- alanbernstein 3y ago1. Secretly repaint one wall of a house and redirect the qr code to a slightly different url 2. ??? 3. Profit
- cperciva 3y agoNot possible -- QR codes have error correction.
- chromoblob 3y agoIt is possible, you only have to replace also the correction stuff
- TT-392 3y agoError correction doesn't make it impossible to change a message by flipping bits, you just have to change enough bits, and know which bits to flip. I wouldn't rule out, that if you are being smart about it, you might be able to change it into a different valid url, without having to change too many of the squares. You might even be able to use the error correction to your advantage to an extend.
- TT-392 3y agoEspecially if we are gonna throw away half the error correction in an attempt to make artsy qr codes
- dspillett 3y agoYou could use an unnecessarily big QR code for extra correction bits to mitigate this somewhat (up to the maximum correction standard (30%?) even if that means 41 cell code instead of a 33 cell one). For URLs another size hack is to include meaningless extra data (a qstring parameter or anchor that won't be interpreted). This doesn't increase the error protection in itself, but gives the fancier more data to work with so it can produce better visual results without losing more of the signal correction strength. Using the generator at https://qrbtf.com/ https://qrbtf.com/ someone linked above, try the “C2” style with https://qrbtf.com/ https://qrbtf.com/ and https://qrbtf.com/#some-extra-data-to-increase-the-image-size-artificially https://qrbtf.com/#some-extra-data-to-increase-the-image-siz... to see the difference this makes. The issue with artsy QR codes often isn't the individual bit flips, but that they often include large areas of all black or all white which can make it harder for the reader to pick up the actually correct bits if the viewing angle and lighting aren't perfect. The standard includes 8 mask patterns that you can freely choose from, the intention being that you pick the one which gives most black/white variation in the final result, so there is as few low-contrast areas as possible. With improvements in cameras and processing built into QR scanners these days this is becoming less of a concern, but if you need your code to be reliably readable by older devices, probably stay away from the fancy tricks. The fancy tricks are cool though, worth all the caveats if they match your stylistic needs.
- javchz 3y agoIt's all fun and games... Until someone forgets to pay the annual domain fee.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 3y agoLike those 800k or so Maryland drivers with starspangled200.org on their license plates.
- yonatan8070 3y agoA QR code is just data, it doesn't have to be a URL, it could just as easily be any kind of data
- themoonisachees 3y agoRealistically if you want to contain anything but short text or heavily compressed data URIs you need to be hosting it on a domain the code points to.
- thih9 3y agoA QR code on a yoghurt that I bought couple of months ago came with some interstitial ad due to an unpaid fee. It made me double check the yoghurt's expiration date.
- lordgrenville 3y agoSeems like nowadays links rot faster than yoghurt!
- mattwoodnyc 3y ago10/10, no notes!