To boost the profile of metro Grand Rapids as tech savvy, two local organizations are eyeing the possibility of placing QR-coded signs at the city's main attractions so tourists and visitors can use their smartphones to call up everything from a simple blurb to a multimedia show to learn more about what they are viewing.
"Think of it as the 21st century version of the Post-it note," says Douglas Lang, a founding member of the Grand Rapids Technology Partnership, a grassroots organization that wants to foster the growth of technology in the metropolitan area.
Lang and his partner Will Hartwell say it is possible to create a self-guided walking tour of the core city using QR code technology that would promote tourism and further the perception of Grand Rapids as a regional technology hub.
Lang and Hartwell point out there is a significant amount of work involved in creating a QR code-based tour, but they are confident it can be done. The partnership is scheduled to make a presentation to the Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention & Visitors Bureau in mid July to review the details and potential costs of implementing a system.
While he will have more specifics at their presentation, Lang explains that visitors could use their smartphones to take an image of a QR-coded sign at an attraction such as the Calder sculpture near city hall. The image could "hold a link, run a script, connect to a service on the internet...and deliver immediate data transfer" of content in visual and audio media, such as a video describing how the Calder was brought to the city.
At the same time, the Community Media Center in Grand Rapids is examining how QR-coded signs may be used throughout the metropolitan area at selected sites, possibly by partnering with organizations such as the Grand Rapids Historical Commission. The media center also has had some discussions with the technology partnership regarding its plans.
The media center provides technology services to a large number of non-profit clients and views QR code applications as one more option in its toolbox.
"It's all about getting information to where people already are," says Laurie Cirivello, executive director of the media center. "The code combines the physical with the digital, and once you have it, it's updateable. You can change the content as often as you want."
Part technology leap and part Andy Warhol dream
So what exactly is QR code and why is it a big deal?
It is, basically, a two-dimensional bar code that looks like something between a piece of op art and a Rorschach blot. Unlike the flat, one-dimensional bar codes we are used to seeing on just about everything we purchase, QR code can do a lot more than read a number. Derived from the words Quick Response, QR code was developed in Japan in the early 1990s by the automotive industry to enable data storage and make it accessible via high speed decoding.
Lang, who works as an airline pilot when he isn't working on his partnership's projects, first saw applications of QR code during his travels. When he formed his partnership last year with Hartwell -- an associate attorney with Paparella & Associates LLC -- using QR code for the walking tour seemed a logical first project..
QR codes have been used recently in metro Grand Rapids for some limited applications, but not on the scale considered by the partnership and the media center. The code was used briefly at the ActiveSite entry of last year's ArtPrize competition, and both the visitors bureau and the Grand Rapids Downtown Alliance have experimented with a some applications. The Downtown Alliance developed cards with QR codes on them to take individuals to the organization's website, Executive Director Sharon Evoy says. In addition to other potential uses, the alliance has placed QR codes on its awards materials, she says.
The media center featured the code on its promotional tee-shirts when it launched its citizen journalism e-zine, The Rapidian. Users were directed to Cirivello's Twitter account and blog.
Lang and Cirivello also point out that while QR code is easy to download there is a lot more involved in benefiting from its application. "The big issue is that anyone can grab and set up a QR code," Cirivello says. "But if a site is not set up for it, it won't be useful."
If you build it, will they come?
A tour involving the use of QR code is a much more ambitious undertaking and while it would seem there are a number of obvious choices for tour stops, no specific locations or buildings have been selected. The same holds true for sponsors, although a number of local groups have been contacted.
"We are lining up partners who have a vested interest in the technology," Cirivello says. "Some plans are in refinement, some platforms are in development."
The media center recently brought the idea to the attention of the Grand Rapids Historical Commission. The Commission's interest would be centered on developing and monitoring content consistent with its ongoing projects, particularly an extensive history detailing the city's wide variety of architectural styles.
The Commission also sees opportunities to remain current while appealing to a wider audience.
"The web server took us beyond conventional borders," says Commission Chairperson Diana Barrett. "This would be the next step."
Barrett adds that a tour would be an active, engaging way for visitors to learn more about the city.
Hey, look us over
The visiting audience is what piques the interest of the visitors bureau as well.
Janet Korn, vice president of marketing for the bureau, sees the technology as one more opportunity to share information and take people on a virtual journey to a place they might like to see up close.
"We've printed a couple of bookmarks with the QR code for area attractions and hotels that takes a user to our home page," Korn explains. "The bookmarks helped cross promote events and exhibits -- the Chihuly Exhibition at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, ArtPrize, and the Princess Diana exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum."
Korn suggests the technology might also have applications involving trade shows and conventions, providing easier ways to interact between customers and share information. She is careful to add that QR code should be viewed as one more communication opportunity and not as a replacement for existing options.
"There are all these new channels," she says. "Now we can do more and try to get better with content appropriate for each medium, but that doesn't mean we have to leave the old ones. There is a lot of information to share."
No place like home
Discovering and bringing new technology applications to the community is a major component of the technology partnership's mission.
"We want to help craft a tech savvy public image for Grand Rapids through a number of projects, the code-directed tour being one of the first," Lang says." Long term, Lang says the partnership's efforts will focus on encouraging entrepreneurs to expand the technology business in Grand Rapids.
In the meantime, the partnership and the media center will move forward, perhaps in a collaborative effort, with concept approval and funding being the immediate goals. Definitive answers are expected to come by late July.
G.F. Korreck is a free-lance writer, editor, and voice talent living in West Michigan.
Photos:
Will Hartwell and Douglas Lang
Barcode and cellphone scanning system
Will Hartwell
Douglas Lang
Photographs by Brian Kelly -All Rights Reserved