Scientists have developed a way to apply invisible QR codes
Miscellaneous / / January 31, 2022
They can only be seen in infrared light.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology specialists in the USA showedhow the new technology works. Using a 3D printer, they applied an invisible image to the mug, in which information about it is encrypted.
Outwardly, the mug and the stand for it have not changed much. But if you look at the dishes in infrared, you can scan the QR code and then decode it.
The technology is called InfraredTags. It was developed by Mustafa Matthew Dogan, a PhD student in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Dogan said that there are two ways to apply QR codes using a 3D printer. The first approach is to use one type of plastic and fill in the places corresponding to units with it, and leave holes where there are zeros in the code. The second method involves the use of two types of plastic: one of them transmits infrared radiation, the second does not. This is more complicated and more expensive, but allows for greater accuracy and a smaller size of the QR code.
For marking, Dogan used a special plastic that is opaque to visible light, but transparent to infrared. These marks are invisible, so they create less visual noise. In addition, they are more durable than paper stickers with codes: 3D-printed images are much more difficult to lose, erase or damage.
Experts have already developed a programmatic user interface that defines exactly how the code should look and on which part of the object it is best to place it. Scientists emphasized that it is possible to apply several marks to one object if it is inconvenient or impossible to rotate it to view it from the right angle.
Fraser Anderson of Autodesk noted:
InfraredTags is a really smart, useful and accessible approach to injecting information into objects. I can easily imagine a future where you point a normal camera at any object and it will give you information about where it was made, what materials or repair instructions are available, and you don't even have to look for barcode.
Fraser Anderson
Senior Scientist at Autodesk Technology Center Toronto, Canada
Exploring the applications of the new technology, Dogan and his colleagues applied QR codes not only to stationary objects - mugs, containers, Wi-Fi hotspots, but also created a prototype game controller. They used a steering wheel without electronic components and an inexpensive infrared camera. If the player turned the steering wheel, the camera scanned the code and determined how the position of the controller in space changes.
According to Dogan, in the future, the technology will find applications in everyday life, and smartphones with IR cameras should help with this. For example, by scanning an invisible QR code on a smart home device, it will be possible to turn on or off the light, adjust the temperature on the thermostat, change the volume of the music. In augmented reality, it may look like in a computer game - buttons for settings will appear next to the desired object.
It is also possible to integrate IR cameras into headsets for supermarket shoppers. As a result, a person will be able to hear detailed information about the product - from the price and number of calories to recipes - as soon as they stop at the shelf with it.
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For 10 years in IT, I tried a lot: I worked as a system administrator and tester, I wrote in a dozen different languages programming, led the computer department of the editorial office of a printed newspaper and led news feeds high-tech portals. I can patch KDE2 for FreeBSD - and tell you in detail about all the nuances of this process. I dream about homemade R2-D2 and space flight.