16 March 2011

The Next New Idea for Zoos and Aquaria: QR Codes

What's missing in this picture? In my mind, a QR code. Best buy already puts QR codes on the signs for their products, so why can't zoos and aquaria put qr codes on their animal signs? I got this idea when, last week, I went with my family to the San Diego Zoo. While there, it occurred to me that there could be a new opportunity for zoos and aquaria: QR codes! Although I love reading the signs, sometimes I wonder a little more about certain animals, such as the Sichuan Takin featured above. For some animals, they seem so interesting, I want to know more about them than is listed on their information sign; for other animals, I am curious as to what is causing their demise. While thinking about it, I thought QR codes could also be used to direct one towards further information about helping particular animals or efforts underway to do so. Another possibility could be using a QR code to direct the user to a video or videos of the animals in action (especially if they are snoozing in the exhibit or if they are particularly swift animals, yet the exhibit doesn't yield for such a showing of the animal's swiftness).
After coming up with these ideas, I did see that the San Diego Zoo has used QR codes in the past, although the Santa Barbara Zoo has employed this idea in using QR codes to point to videos of the animals (press release). Further searching has also yielded someone else having suggested the idea.
In any event, one possibility could be coming up with a QR code that points to pages for animals that have lots of different options: such as videos, further information about them, about their endangerment, etc. And although probably only the bigger zoos might be able to allot web designers to come up with the material, it's also possible for an organization such as the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to design and allow their constituent members utilize on their signs....

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