DSi’s potential as a QR code scanner

Though QR codes aren’t yet prevalent in the States, I’m hoping that Nintendo will implement QR scanning capabilities with the DSi and its camera(s).

For those of you unfamiliar with the pixelated “Quick Response” patches, it’s a popular barcode system in Japan often attached to commercial products and other objects.

People scan the small squares with their mobile phone cameras and are able to access encoded data — nutritional information for food, directions from Google Maps, contact details on a business card, or even the developer’s site from a Nintendo DS game box.

The QR code shown above, for example, will direct you to our lovely site.

Spencer uncovered something neat from Japan’s trademark database — a “DSScan” trademark registered by Nintendo on August 19 under the “game equipment” category. He posits that DSScan could be for scanning Pokemon cards and other trading cards with the DSi’s camera to unlock DS content, which is also pretty cool.

There are plenty more interesting and random QR-code/scanning possibilities with the DSi, like having gamers go on real-world scavenger hunts to unlock DS content or letting people easily exchange friend codes.

Apple’s iPhone, for reference, has no less than five QR code scanning applications. If Nintendo doesn’t do it, maybe the homebrew community will.

tags / dsi / qr code / barcode / ec / dsscan