[ Theme ] The QR (Quick Response) code
[ Award Date ] Jun. 17, 2014
The "European Inventor Award" is the most important award for technical, social and economic inventions in Europe. Launched in 2006, it is awarded annually by the European Patent Office (EPO). The Quick Response (QR) code, developed by DENSO WAVE INC. and TOYOTA CENTRAL R&D LABS., INC. in 1994, was nominated for the category of "Non-European countries" in 2014. It was selected as the winner of the Popular Prize from 15 nominated finalists among all categories.
The QR code is capable of handling 350 times more data than a conventional bar code because this code can store data in both the horizontal and vertical directions. It is possible to deal with all types of data, such as alphanumeric characters, Kanji, Kana, Hiragana, symbols, binary, and control codes. The quick reading speed is achieved by the positional arrangement of detection patterns in 3 corners. In addition, the QR code can theoretically suppress the probability of false recognition to less than 1 in 1,000,000,000.
