Old Gastown Meets New Technology

The Gastown Business Improvement Association founded the Gastown Blog in the summer of 2009 to breathe some new life into this historic community. With daily features, history lessons and business profiles, it’s a one-stop source for Gastown information.

Over the last few weeks the Gastown Blog launched an initiative to put QR codes on old buildings where passers-by can scan the code and call up a post from the blog about that building. Ray Kanani, who worked on the project, explains in this video:

Your smartphone’s camera acts as a scanner while processing the symbol, which looks like a scrambled bar code. The QR code contains information that can be accessed with an iPhone or Blackberry application, instantly calling up a webpage with Vancouver Archive photos and historical facts about the building.

You can find these QR code stickers on over 20 buildings in Gastown and they’re hoping to expand. If you happen to walk by a building with the QR code sticker in the window, give it a try and learn more about the neighbourhood. The QR code technology is still pretty new to Vancouver (although it was developed in 1994) and it’s currently widely used in Asia.

Links:
Gastown BIA
The Gastown Blog
QR Code Generator
QR Code Application – ScanLife (Free on iTunes)
QR Code Application – QuickMark ($0.99 on iTunes)