Building a Better QR Code

A handful of tech startups are developing alternatives ... but will people know they’re there?

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QR codes—those odd black-and-white checkered boxes that smart-phone users can scan for more information—are being threatened with obsolescence by a gang of ambitious new startups armed with flashier image-scanning technology.

At the front of the pack is Aurasma, a well-funded augmented reality company—spun out of British software giant Autonomy—that’s aiming to make its code the go-to platform for getting smartphones to recognize products as triggers for virtual content.

Right now, Aurasma is giving away its app to users and code to developers for free—which has helped them draw more than 2 million downloads to date.

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