It may not be the first thing that leaps to mind, but among many other things, the year 2020 has been the year of the QR code.

QR codes aren’t new. In fact, they’ve been around for more than 25 years. But this year, they seem to be everywhere: on restaurant patio tables to access online menus, on doors to help with contact tracing, and in businesses for contactless payment. You’ll find them in your Toronto Star as well: codes you can scan to access exclusive online data.

Here’s how QR codes work, and why the COVID-19 pandemic set the stage for widespread use of this technology.

A QR code, or “quick response code,” is the next generation of the barcode. It encodes information horizontally and vertically, instead of just horizontally, making it capable of containing a lot more information.

It can also be read quickly, hence the name, and set off certain actions, such as redirecting the user to a website. This makes a QR code much more versatile than a regular barcode.

Richard Hyatt, co-founder and CEO of Toronto-based startup Candr, said its QR codes come in varying complexities. Many include redundancies, meaning the same information is encoded into the image more than once, so that if the QR code is partially damaged, it can still be scanned.

“Because you can put more data into that QR code, you can do some fancy things,” Hyatt said.

The QR code was invented in 1994 by Japanese engineer Hara Masahiro to track vehicles during the manufacturing process. (The term “QR Code” is trademarked by the company Denso Wave.) Instead of a simple barcode, the QR code was designed to hold a lot more information to streamline the process of scanning and tracking items.

Masahiro has said that the black-and-white pattern was inspired by the board game Go, which uses black-and-white playing pieces on a grid-marked board.

Since its invention, uses for the QR code have expanded into marketing and shopping. While smartphone users initially needed a third-party app to scan the codes, many Android and iPhone smartphones can now scan the codes via built-in camera apps.

QR codes have had a few resurgences over the years — remember Snapcodes, the personalized codes made by Snapchat to make adding friends easier? Snapchat’s CEO was inspired by seeing WeChat users in China scanning QR codes, according to a 2017 article in Wired.

If your smartphone has the capability, simply open the camera app and hold your phone up to the QR code. The app should prompt you to open whatever link the QR code is directing you to, whether it’s a restaurant menu or a contact tracing form.

If your smartphone’s camera app doesn’t have this capability, there are many third-party QR scanning apps that can be downloaded to perform the function.

Because of their versatility, QR codes are useful for a number of functions related to slowing the spread of COVID-19, said Konesh Thurairasah, co-founder and COO of Safe Check-IN, a tool to help businesses comply with contact tracing, among other things.

Not only can they direct a client to a menu or a contact tracing form, they can help business owners track how many people are in their store to avoid breaking pandemic restrictions.

When Thurairasah and his co-founder decided to make a contactless option for contact tracing and more, QR codes immediately popped into their heads, because of their versatility and also their cost-effectiveness, he said.

Since launching their Milton, Ont.-based startup around three months ago, interest has grown. Sign-ups doubled last month over the previous month and users are showing interest in an increasing array of features, Thurairasah said.

Kevin Derbyshire, co-founder and president of Toronto-based startup Candr, said its digital service was being developed to help companies connect with customers before COVID-19 using QR codes. Then, in the early days of the pandemic, a friend in the restaurant industry mentioned that they were collecting contact tracing details using pen and paper.

Derbyshire and Hyatt thought there must be a better way — and immediately thought of using Candr’s QR codes to improve the contact tracing process.

First, it’s more hygienic — there’s no shared pen or paper. Second, it’s more secure — nobody can access other people’s contact information such as by taking a photo of the sign-up sheet. And third, they could add new functionalities — for example, clients can take a COVID-19 symptom questionnaire, view a restaurant’s menu, and browse promotions, all through one QR code.

The process also eliminates errors caused by misheard names or messy handwriting.

Since the service launched in May, Derbyshire said they have had a “dramatic rise” in sign-ups, in Canada and outside the country. Many clients are restaurants, he said.

“It’s taken off,” said Derbyshire. “What used to be something that I would consider an inventory management tool on floors in large warehouses in the ’90s (is now) on tables of fine dining.”

You’ll find QR codes taped to the tables at your favourite restaurants — a contactless way to read the menu. QR codes are also being used at banks and other institutions to create a digital lineup.

Recently, Toronto company Scarboro Music put QR codes up on its display window so customers could virtually shop while the store is closed due to the current COVID-19 lockdown.

Pre-COVID-19, QR codes were used as an electronic ticket for concerts and shows (remember those?). The QR code in that confirmation email was proof of payment.

Companies are using them more often now for contactless payment, even digital payment giant PayPal. In November, Calgary-based payment company Helcim launched QR codes for restaurants and other small businesses.

Helcim founder and CEO Nick Beique said the QR codes help restaurants facilitate menus and online orders. Other businesses such as fitness studios are using them for easy registration, and the Toronto Star, noticing a resurgence in interest from marketers, recently added the procurement of QR codes for advertisers as a new service.

Beique thinks the increased use of QR codes to access menus in 2020 helped familiarize people in North America with the technology that other countries adopted years ago, and it’s leading to more creative uses.

“I think that the people removing the physical menus and (using) QR codes is really what has taught an entire population how to use them,” he said.

Thurairasah said some Safe Check-IN clients use QR codes to schedule and check-in visitors at care homes or hotels.

He predicts QR code usage will continue to rise in 2021 as businesses look for easier ways to comply with pandemic restrictions.

Hyatt agreed.

“The QR code’s here to stay.”

Rosa Saba is a Calgary-based business reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: