Contextual QR Codes

QR codes (2D barcodes) are used to encode and decode data at a rapid rate. Using camera phones to read two dimensional barcodes for various purposes is currently a popular topic in both research and in practical applications. But until now, the information provided by QR codes was solely static. What you see is exactly what was encoded. This paper proposes the notion of contextual QR codes that merge a public QR code and private information, in order to provide data related to a particular context. For example, a public tag will be decoded and translated into ldquoGood evening John Smithrdquo or ldquoBonjour Jean Dupondrdquo, if the system is able to obtain data such as the name of the user, the language used on the machine (English or French for instance) and the moment when the interaction takes place.