Nitpick: the article mentions that the bees are tracked with QR Codes, but I find that hard to believe, given the space constraints. In one photo it looks like it is an ArUco marker.

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diggan 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

2mm QR codes according to the article:

> The protocol used at Fukushima is automated. Each bee is equipped with a 2-mm-wide QR Code which is read by a camera, activating the opening of the maze.

But yeah, doesn't look like a QR code at all, are there possibly different variations of QR codes? Haven't heard about that myself.

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blueflow 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

I can imagine the journalist referring to all Matrix Codes as "QR".

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wanderingstan 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

This is it. All matrix codes are now commonly referred to as “QR Codes”. I’ve noticed this especially at airports where both passengers and gate agents refer to the “QR codes” on boarding passes. (Which are IIRC Aztec codes)

	▲	alex_suzuki 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Boarding passes are typically Aztec, but don‘t have to be. IATA allows other types as well: https://www.iata.org/contentassets/1dccc9ed041b4f3bbdcf8ee86...

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thaumasiotes 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

In China the normal word is 二维码 "two-dimensional code".

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noduerme 2 days ago | parent [-]

is a barcode a one-dimensional code?

	▲	collingreen 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Yes - even though it obviously has visual height the data only runs in one dimension. For the 2D codes like QR the data is in both directions, which is why orientation often comes up in their design.

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ChrisMarshallNY 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Anyone remember these?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Capacity_Color_Barcode

Haven't seen one in ages.

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diggan 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

We have something similar in Barcelona (maybe entire Spain? Apparently called NaviLens, colored squares rather than triangles) all around public transit points. They're used for blind people to navigate the public transit system :)

> As users sweep their environment with a smartphone, audio cues allow them to find and center the tag in the phone’s field of view. A shake of the wrist prompts the details contained within the tag to be read out (visually impaired people are often holding a guide dog or cane with their other hand). https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/06/06/135057/these-col...

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alex_suzuki 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Never saw one of those in the wild. But I have seen NaviLens codes (on cereal packaging), they use color as well: https://www.navilens.com/en/

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nielsbot 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Tangential, but Apple also has their own machine-readable printable code format: App Clip Codes

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appclip/creating-a...

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randall 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

they’re at every new york subway station. i don’t know why.

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ChrisMarshallNY 2 days ago | parent [-]

Surprised that they are still there.

It’s an old Microsoft standard. I’m pretty sure that MS rolled it up, years ago, so they may not be valid, anymore.

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joecool1029 2 days ago | parent [-]

They are Navilens, new thing: https://www.mta.info/accessibility/innovations/navilens

	▲	randall a day ago \| parent \| next [-]
		oh cool it’s an accessibility thing! had no idea.
	▲	ChrisMarshallNY 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Ah. That makes sense. Different look, though. The Microsoft ones used triangles.