Does anyone think QR codes on caches to bring users to the cache page would be a good idea

[+tysapper73]

Wondering if anyone thinks a QR code on or in the cache container that would link to the cache page would be a good idea?

I don't think it should be mandatory, but it would be a good way to introduce Geocaching to non geocachers if they found it inadvertently. It could also link to the geocaching disclaimer sheet that explains what the cache is that is supposed to be printed out and placed in each cache but frequently isn't due to the size of the cache or it gets lost or ruined and isn't replaced. It would also be a way to keep track of caches you have found if you are in an area without good connectivity as most QR code scanner Apps save the link in the app so you can follow up later. I think they could be generated automatically when then the reviewer publishes the cache. The CO could then use it or not at his or her discretion. I in no way want to replace the physical log book I tried doing Munzee's but there definitely wasn't the degree of satisfaction in finding just a QR tag as in finding a cache and signing the log. Also half the Munzee's I found were no longer active and there didn't seem to be the oversight that that the review process provides. I just think it could be an extra tool to use to connect to Geocaching and would be in line with the new scannable trackable dog tags

[+wmpastor]

Wondering if anyone thinks a QR code on or in the cache container that would link to the cache page would be a good idea?

I don't think it should be mandatory, but it would be a good way to introduce Geocaching to non geocachers if they found it inadvertently. It could also link to the geocaching disclaimer sheet that explains what the cache is that is supposed to be printed out and placed in each cache but frequently isn't due to the size of the cache or it gets lost or ruined and isn't replaced. It would also be a way to keep track of caches you have found if you are in an area without good connectivity as most QR code scanner Apps save the link in the app so you can follow up later. I think they could be generated automatically when then the reviewer publishes the cache. The CO could then use it or not at his or her discretion. I in no way want to replace the physical log book I tried doing Munzee's but there definitely wasn't the degree of satisfaction in finding just a QR tag as in finding a cache and signing the log. Also half the Munzee's I found were no longer active and there didn't seem to be the oversight that that the review process provides. I just think it could be an extra tool to use to connect to Geocaching and would be in line with the new scannable trackable dog tags

 

You make a couple of interesting arguments for having optional scanning. However, i'm not convinced this added complexity solves anything.

 

You say it will help identify the cache in case it's found by a muggle. But how many muggles scan a barcode when they find something - or even have the app to do so?

 

You talk about saving a list of finds to log later if you are in a no-reception area. How many high-numbers cachers need that? And if you need to identify a cache you found, why not refer back to the "recently-viewed" list that the site maintains for you, as I do?

 

I'll let someone else analyze this from the high-numbers perspective - those who load 2,000 caches into their GPSr for a weekend of caching. Can you flag the find in the GPSr to refer to later? And if not, wouldn't adding that feature be a simpler coding issue than creating the barcode infrastructure?

[+kunarion]

Each cache has a cache number, such as "GC4K32W". It requires no App download, just any web browser, via geocaching.com. You'd have to devise a way that QR Codes could be applied to a container in an enduring way. You'll see plenty of caches where computer-printed labels bleed and fade in the outdoor environment, while a GC Number written with a paint pen may fare well. Cache Owners would have to maintain both a QR Code and human-readable info on each cache container.

 

You've mentioned a couple of very different QR Codes for caches. With that and The M (some other QR Code sticker games), there may be three or four, assuming they all fit on or in the container. And the most useful one (say, the one with the GC number) may have faded away. I have no such App on my tablet, and I'm on wi-fi only. So a QR Code is an added burden for me. Even people with the latest phone can have problems with QR Codes. If I'm not online, I'll have to scan all the QR Codes on a container, and hope for the best.

 

After the community accepts what a standard Geocache "QR Code" will contain, the next issue is how to use that on a cache container. And there are many containers where a QR Code could not be placed, yet where writing the GC Number would work.

 

Also, due to the difficulty of a Cache Owner having cache info on a container, I typically assume the cache I've found at GZ is the cache I'm hunting, with no code at all (COs can't be bothered to identify the cache in any way, not even with a QR Code). So a QR Code couldn't be all the useful to me, but I guess I'd have to start scanning these anyway, just in case they link to some info I may need. So the QR Codes may be for non-cachers who stumble upon the container. Are people scanning QR Codes they find as a standard practice to see what the link is?

 

I hope you don't think I'm against the idea. "QR Codes" are a popular suggestion in this forum, and there may indeed be a cool way to use them on caches. Perhaps Groundspeak could offer a label for some standard containers, that has a durable QR Code. Maybe as you mentioned, it could link to an info page, not actually to each specific cache page.

 

A cache page has a compact link like this: http://coord.info/GC4K32W

 

That produces a decent code block:

 

 

Is that what we want? It's the same thing as telling someone "The cache is GC4K32W". Search "GC4K32W" without even typing a web address, and a web browser lists the proper cache page at the top of the search list. Anycacher may place a prototype QR Code onto his caches. If some plan works well, maybe it will catch on.

 

Maybe a connected phone could read plain text OCR "GC4K32W" using Google Goggles, for people who don't feel like typing it. That App may read plain text or a QR Code.

 

There are some QR Codes that have built-in redundancy, readable even if part of the block is damaged. That might be an important feature here.

Edited November 28, 2015 by kunarion

[+kunarion]

how many muggles scan a barcode when they find something - or even have the app to do so?

I almost never scan a QR Code. If I get the bug to do that, I get to a Wifi Hotspot, find a "QR Code" App, install it, discover it's unsuitable and uninstall it, install a different QR Code App (with its full-screen ads), scan the QR Code, uninstall the App.

 

Do most people actually scan these things upon discovery? If so, do advertisers know this?

Edited November 28, 2015 by kunarion

[+T.D.M.22]

A way to tell non geocaches what they just found? Not everyone has a scanner app in their phone, or even has a phone, or is comfortable scanning something random. Maybe something that everybody could use? Too bad nothing like this exists.

 

Anyway if it is generated when the cache gets published, that means I have to go out and place the cache. Make up the page, get it published, make sure I'm available the second it gets published, get the QR code, print it off, go back to the cache location, stick the code in the cache. Too much work. If this was to be implemented why not have the QR generated when you make up the cache page, like the GC code? Or have generic codes that you can place, then link to the page, like you can with Munzee.

[+Eartha]

Moving to the correct forum.