Katie McLoughlin, a hip South End resident, was strolling Newbury Street when she saw something she’d never noticed: a square piece of paper with a black and white pattern, posted on a real estate billboard.
It’s the kind of thing that is popping up regularly these days, but what, exactly, is it? “A reincarnation of those magic eye puzzles from the ’90s - you cross your eyes and the image pops out?’’ guessed McLoughlin, 27. She took another look, and admitted defeat. “I have no idea.’’
The answer: a kind of bar code known as Quick Response. Scan one with your phone, and you can get additional product information, watch an exclusive video, win a prize, or, in the case of Group Boston Real Estate’s QR code, learn square-footage and condo-fee numbers for advertised properties.
QR codes have quickly become the darling of the mobile marketing world. But despite their increasing ubiquity - they have appeared on Taco Bell cups, plants at the Home Depot , and Target toy catalogs- many consumers remain either totally ignorant or baffled.
“Is it one of those psychological - what do you call that - a Rorschach test?’’ asked Jeff Gannon, 49, of Sherborn, as he studied a QR code in the window of the Copley Society of Art on Newbury Street. “Is it something related to Groupon or LivingSocial?’’ said Patrick Benzie, 40, of the South End, as he scrutinized a large QR code in the window of the Ted Baker clothing store.
Thirty-five percent of adults own a smart phone, according to the Pew Internet Project, making the QR technology available to them.
Even as some consumers remained puzzled, the use of QR codes is skyrocketing. More than half of US companies now use them, up from about 20 percent in 2010, according to Loreen Worden, co-editor of QRCodePress.com, an online resource for mobile commerce trends.
That’s news to Paul Gehring, 55, the director of a YMCA branch, who was walking in Back Bay last week. “I’ve never seen one before,’’ he said. His explanation? “We’re from Virginia.’’
A call to the Virginia Chamber of Commerce confirmed that the state is not a QR-code-free zone - a fact his wife, Mimi, 55, quickly surmised. “Watch us go back to Fredericksburg and see them all over the place,’’ she said.
A subsidiary of Toyota developed QR codes in 1994 to track cars in the production line, and now the range of products with QR codes has gone so far beyond sedans that it includes the afterlife. A Seattle firm has started selling QR stickers for headstones, the better to learn more about the deceased.
In July, 14.4 million people scanned at least one QR code , according to comScore , a Seattle-based digital research firm. In August, the number hit 16.5 million.