We've talked a lot on this space about using QR codes to promote businesses. But you can also use QR codes to tell history, as they are doing in Kent, Ohio.

QR codes — bar code-like graphics — have been placed on 11 historical landmarks around Kent. Anyone with a smart phone and a QR app reader can scan one of the codes to watch a video about the landmark.

The small square image is a great way to pack a lot of information into a small space.  Personal history, like medical history , can easily be communicated in that space.

MedFlash allows users to create an online medical profile containing their histories and other relative information. Each profile is assigned a unique code which links to the profile. The codes can be printed on anything, allowing users to place them where they feel the codes will be most useful. Connectyx opted to adopt the codes because of their ability to distribute important information quickly, which can be a boon to emergency personnel. 

You can even embed QR codes on tombstones to allow a greater representation of a person's life. Rather than just a name and the years they were born and died, a quick scan can open a page full of stories, pictures, and even video or audio of the person who passed.  A recent USA Today article gave an example of how the emerging technology is helping Edouard Garneau's friends and family remember him.

People scanning the code with their smartphones are taken to a website that includes Garneau's obituary and a photo gallery highlighting the Seattle-area businessman. They learn he was a collision auto body repair expert, a world traveler and a loving uncle. In the future, more photos and stories from family and friends can be added.

Faye Garneau recently added a QR code to the gravestone bench memorializing her husband Ed Garneau at Holyrood Cemetery in Shoreline, Wash.  "I think it's a neat deal," Faye Garneau said. "It kind of keeps people alive a little longer, down through the generations." 

As you can see, a lot of information can be contained in a little, tiny space.  Want to try it for yourself?  You can create a free QR code via our Barcode Generator or, for you developers, try the RACO Barcode API demo today and see what you can do with the power of the QR Code.