In October, the first official QR Code schnitzel hunt took place in downtown Frankfurt, Germany. The event was organized by the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund GmbH (RMV – public transport company), the Frankfurt EXPLORAmuseum, the Frankfurt Municipal Information Office and QR Code expert Steffen Schilke.
| A code for FankfurtThe fact that QR Codes support short texts, geo-data or internet links makes them ideal for running a schnitzel hunt via mobile telephones. At least that was the feeling of the organizers of the first official Frankfurt QR Code schnitzel hunt. The roughly 90-minute tour of Frankfurt kicked off at the city’s main rail terminal.Over the preceding weeks, a total of 12 A4-sized QR Codes were hidden at 12 locations around the city, each of which led to where the next clue was waiting. Participants had to answer a question at each checkpoint. The correct combination of letters gave the solution to the competition. Buses, trams and subways ran along virtually the whole route. The RMV mobile app “HandyPortal” (www.rmv.de) provided the schnitzel hunters with the quickest transport links or the shortest route by foot from clue to clue. DENSO: inventor of QR CodeQR Code was first developed by DENSO in 1994 as a 2-D code. “QR” stands for Quick Response and relates to the extremely quick decoding of the information. QR Code can support up to 7,089 numerals and requires only one tenth the surface area of a standard barcode. With the appropriate software, QR Codes can be read by modern mobile communication devices and open up a fascinating world of Virtual Reality opportunities. Comprehensive information about visitor attractions or sights can be accessed direct from such devices, or users can check departure times of public transport options or simply let themselves be guided smoothly through the city streets on foot.Steffen Schilke aims to make Frankfurt a pioneer of the small black and white quadrants. “They are way easier to apply and are less prone to scanning errors on packaging than conventional striped barcodes,” Schilke explains. Frankfurt is well on the way to becoming a ‘digital city’ and wants to be one of the first cities in Europe to use this technology. |
