QRBRD Year Recap

Its been a whirlwind of a first year developing QRBRD, easily one of my most rewarding professional and personal experiences. I’ve had the opportunity to work with incredible people on interesting problems, all the while with the full support of my family, friends and professional network.

Thank you to everyone who has helped by testing, providing feedback or introducing us to interesting partners etc. We couldn’t have got this far without you! We continue to need and appreciate your help. 💪

A question I get regularly…”Ciarán…why QR codes?”

- QR codes weren’t designed for human eyes…they were made for 🤖 🤖 🤖 30 years ago in factory’s in 🇯🇵 I find that fact a captivating place to start!

- They are omnipresent in our lives yet feel aesthetically overlooked 😥 and functionally primitive across most industries. Payments, Blockchain and Restaurants being the noticeable front runners to embrace the possibilities.

- We are in the Scan, Tap, Say or Gesture era of the internet. Users want and deserve rapid, low friction experiences. The rapid emergence of AI applications during 2023–2024 is extenuating this further.

- QR codes form the foundations of a vision based language, supported by at least 4BN devices. QR codes serve to connect our devices with a wide range of surfaces, yet often aren’t…

- Valuable, complex on-device or remote experiences can be initiated with a simple scan with the right infrastructure and building blocks….**cough, cough** QRBRD

- Unlimited application possibilities from OOH, to connected TV to Gaming or Packaging. I really feel we are only scratching the surface here.

So what happens when you take a widely supported optical label encoded with business goals….. make it both visually enticing and also increasingly useful to users?….

QRBRD’s 2024 at glance:
- A portfolio of beautiful, professionally designed QR codes including animations. 👀 ‘Hiro’ our mascot, brand mark QR code was born!

- We started beta testing a self service UI to pair designs with advanced user “Actions”. We call these integrated codes “Signal.Codes”

- We built a real time API to generate designs with platform integrated actions programmatically.

- We prepared design commissions for some really progressive operators across DeFi, Blockchain, Gaming and Sustainability.

- Our designs made appearances at large tech events like Web Summit and also in support of great causes.

Yes, we had plenty of challenges to overcome this year but looking into 2025, I’m filled with appreciation, optimism and excitement.

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