Saturday, November 17, 2012

Modern Hobo Sign Code

I stumbled across a modern QR-code version of the classic North American hobo sign code (wikipedia).


Above are just some examples of the signs from here (http://www.worldpath.net/~minstrel/hobosign.htm). 

This "Free Art and Technology (F.A.T.)" site has designed QR versions of hobo-like codes. Here are some examples.


It seems that the warchalk symbols (which are like the hobo codes and used to communicate wireless wifi access) are being incorporated into the hobo QR codes, as in the "free wifi" code above. 


In the process I also found out about temporary, washable chalk spray as a non-permanent option for placing the QR codes from templates.


These codes might be modified with symbols in the middle to make both a human readable and scanable version like the hackaday.com logo above (here is a link to that article).  


Another thought, QR codes seem perfect for the small black and white mosaic tiles, like the ones on bathroom floors.  Secret messages could be worked into the tile pattern. 

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