QR Code Based Augmented Reality Applications

The field of Augmented Reality (AR) has grown and progressed remarkably in recent years and many useful AR applications have been developed focusing on different areas such as game, education and advertisement. However, most of these AR systems are designed for closed applications with particular markers, limited number of users and restricted digital contents. Hence, they are inappropriate for public environment with diverse digital contents. In this article we first review a well-known 2D bar code, the QR Code, and then survey a number of marker- or tag-based AR technologies. We then present two applications, including a product demonstration system and a mobile phone application of the OpenID service, by combining these two techniques. For the product demonstration system, a QR Code is pasted on the package of a product and then the content inside the package is displayed on the QR Code in a 3D format. This system allows the customer to visualize the product via a more direct and interactive way. The other system is a simple application that combines QR Code and AR with mobile phones. With this system, users can quickly and easily share their information on social networks. Meanwhile, the information can also be displayed in an AR form on the phones of the users. These two systems demonstrate the success of using QR Code as the AR marker to a particular application and we believe it can bring more convenient to our life in the future.