QRpedia

QRpedia is a web system for mobile devices, like mobile phones. It uses QR codes to show  Wikipedia articles to people. The articles are shown in the user's own language.

 Process 
A user uses their mobile device to scan a QRpedia QR code. The device decodes the QR code into a web address. The address has the domain name "qrwp.org". The last part of the web address is the title of a Wikipedia article.

The device sends a request for the article to the QRpedia web server. It also transmits the name of the language used by the device.

The QRpedia server then uses Wikipedia's API to find out if there is a version of the specified Wikipedia article in the language used by the device. If there is, it sends back the article in a mobile-friendly format. If there is no translation of the requested article, then the QRpedia server offers a choice of the available languages. It also offers a Google translation.

In this way, a single QRcode can be used to find the same article, in many languages. QRpedia also records usage statistics.

 Origins 


QRpedia was invented by Roger Bamkin, then chairman of Wikimedia UK, and Terence Eden. who is a mobile web consultant. It was unveiled on 9 April 2011 It was unveiled at Derby Museum's Backstage Pass event. The event was part of the GLAM/Derby collaboration between Derby Museum and Art Gallery and Wikipedia. During the collaboration, over 500 Wikipedia articles were also created. The articles were in several languages. The project's name is a made-up word, using the initials "QR" from "QR (Quick Response) code" and "pedia" from "Wikipedia".

The project's source code is has a MIT License. This means that anyone can use it, free.

 Uses 


QRpedia is used at:
 The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
 Derby Museum and Art Gallery
 Fundació Joan Miró,  including a travelling exhibit shown at The Tate
 The National Archives, United Kingdom 
 The National Museum of Computing (UK)
 Sofia Zoo, Bulgaria
 The Welsh town of Monmouth, as part of Wikipedia's MonmouthpediA project.
 The New Art Gallery Walsall
QRpedia is also used in other kinds of places. For example, the Occupy movement uses it on their posters.

 References 

 Other websites 

 QRpedia - this site makes QR codes which convert to QRpedia URLs


Category:Free software
Category:Encodings