QRpedia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
QRpedia

A QRpedia code which resolves as the URL http://en.qrwp.org/QRpedia, used widely as the logo
Screenshot  The QRpedia website, showing a QR code, which decodes as the URL http://en.qrwp.org/QRpedia
Available in	Multilingual
Created by	Terence Eden Roger Bamkin
Commercial	No
Registration	None
Launched	9 April 2011; 14 years ago (2011-04-09)
Current status	Online
Content licence	MIT Licence

QRpedia is a cool system that uses QR codes to show you Wikipedia articles on your phone or tablet. It's special because it tries to show you the article in your favorite language! You often see QRpedia codes in places like museum labels. They link to Wikipedia pages about the things on display.

QRpedia was created by Roger Bamkin, who volunteers for Wikipedia, and coded by Terence Eden. It first came out in April 2011. Today, museums and other places in many countries use it. These include Australia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, North Macedonia, Spain, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine, and the United States. The computer code for QRpedia is free for anyone to use.

How QRpedia Works

Visitors to Derby Museum using a mobile phone to scan a QRpedia QR code

When you scan a QRpedia QR code with your mobile device, your device reads the code. The code contains a special web address, also called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). This address tells your device where to find the Wikipedia article.

Your device then sends a request for the article to the QRpedia server. It also tells the server what language your device is set to.

The QRpedia server then checks if there's a Wikipedia article in your language. If there is, it sends it back to your device in a way that's easy to read on a phone. If the article isn't in your language, QRpedia offers you other languages that are available. It can even offer a Google translation if needed.

This means one QR code can give you the same information in many languages. This is super helpful for museums that can't translate everything themselves. QRpedia also keeps track of how often codes are scanned.

The Start of QRpedia

Roger Bamkin, a Wikipedia volunteer, and Terence Eden, a mobile web expert, came up with QRpedia. They showed it for the first time on April 9, 2011. This happened at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery in England. It was part of an event where over 1,200 Wikipedia articles were created in different languages.

The name "QRpedia" is a mix of "QR" (from "Quick Response" code) and "pedia" (from "Wikipedia"). The computer code for this project is free for anyone to use or change.

Where QRpedia is Used

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  This QRpedia code at Derby Museum links to the Wikipedia article about the painting "A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery".

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  A label at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis uses QRpedia for the "Broad Ripple Park Carousel" article.

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  A ceramic plaque with a QRpedia code for Shire Hall, Monmouth in Wales.

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  An enamel sign with a QRpedia code for a church in Prague, Czech Republic.

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  A QRpedia plaque at Skopje Zoo in North Macedonia for a hamadryas baboon.

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  A plaque in the village of Galičnik, North Macedonia.

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  Scanning a QRpedia code in Skopje.

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  A QRpedia plaque at Satyagraha House in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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  A QRpedia code near the East window of St Paul's Church, Birmingham.

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  A QRpedia code at the Mauritanian arch in Odesa, Ukraine.

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  A QRpedia code at the Bristol Hotel, Odesa.

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  A QRpedia code at the Odesa Art Museum.

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  Information about bamboo in San Sebastian's Ulia park, Spain.

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  A QRpedia code for the Selangor Museum collection at World Museum, Liverpool.

Even though QRpedia started in the UK, it can be used anywhere. All you need is a phone or tablet with internet access. It's used in many places, including:

QRpedia isn't just for museums. For example, the Occupy movement has used it on their posters to share information.

Award for QRpedia

In January 2012, QRpedia won an award! It was chosen as one of the most creative mobile companies in the UK for 2011. This award came from the Smart UK Project. QRpedia was one of four projects picked from 79 entries. It then got to compete at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The judges looked for projects that were "effective, easy to understand, and had global potential."

See also

In Spanish: QRpedia para niños