Sunday, February 12, 2017

WhyCan’t: Kolams as QR Codes?

090806-2 This is one of a common sights in front of many homes in South India. In many villages, there are friendly, neighborly competitions to capture maximum space on the street and draw the largest ‘kolam’s [or rangolis] on the street.

There are many ‘patterns’ that many of these designs follow.

On another track – I have been receiving monthly mailers from the South Bangalore Dharmik Samaj every month.

These were 4 page notes that were produced with very simple technology and distributed to share some interesting articles as well as news related to upcoming events.

The recent issue was on the theme of Sivaratri.

In addition to an artilce on the background and details of the date etc, there were also 2 QR codes!

These QR codes led one to some youtube videos of chants and slokas!

Hence the Whycant!

If a pattern of dots on a page can lead one to content somewhere on the internet, Why Can’t a pattern on the ground lead one to something out there in space?

Could it be that these patterns could represent some ‘URL’ – a really ‘Universe Resource Locator’?

Just as a phone and a QR code reader is needed to decode the pattern and connect to a source, those with the technology and equipment could possibly decipher..

except that the people who create these patterns may be completely oblivious to the possibility and the implications..

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