Variable QR Code Routing for Multiple Custom Outputs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing QR code systems lack flexibility for users and third parties to customize or reassign QR code outputs, limiting their functionality and efficiency in environments where multiple QR codes are required for different actions or user roles.
Innovation Solution
A QR code management app that allows users to scan QR codes and define their own associated app or action, enabling customization of QR code outputs based on user permissions, with features for associating, managing, and generating QR codes dynamically.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If standard QR code decoding is used, then uniform output is achieved across all devices, but user customization and flexibility are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a QR code management application as an intermediary layer between the standard QR code decoder and the user. This application intercepts decoded data strings and routes them to custom outputs based on user-defined associations, thereby enabling customization without modifying the standard decoding process itself. The intermediary manages the complexity by maintaining an association database and handling routing logic centrally.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the QR code processing workflow into distinct functional components: standard decoding (maintaining compatibility), custom output association management (enabling flexibility), and routing logic (directing flow). This segmentation allows each component to operate independently, with the management application adding customization capabilities without disrupting the standardized decoding process.
2Productivity
If multiple QR codes are used for different actions, then specific functionality is achieved, but time and resources are wasted creating and managing multiple codes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables a single QR code to serve multiple functions by allowing users to associate one data string with multiple custom outputs. Instead of creating separate QR codes for different actions, the system allows one QR code to route to different applications or actions based on user selection or context, thereby achieving multi-functionality and eliminating the need to create multiple codes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-establishing associations between data strings and multiple potential outputs during setup. When the QR code is scanned later, the routing logic quickly determines the appropriate output based on these pre-configured associations, eliminating the need for users to manually create multiple QR codes for different functions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If users can reassign QR code outputs, then flexibility is improved, but system complexity and permission management increase
Solution Approach 1:
The QR code management application implements self-service functionality by allowing users to directly create, modify, and manage their own associations between data strings and outputs. The system provides intuitive interfaces for users to configure routing rules without requiring administrator intervention or complex permission settings, thereby enabling flexibility while minimizing the complexity of permission management.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and method for QR code processing. In an exemplary method, a data string derived from a QR code is obtained, the QR code selected by a user operating the mobile device. A determination is made as to whether the data string has been previously assigned to a custom output. The user is provided with either the custom output based on permissions of the user or an option to reassign the data string to a new custom output in response to determining that the data string has been previously assigned to the custom output, and the user is prompted to associate the data string with one or more custom outputs based on the permission and in response to determining that the data string has not been previously assigned to the custom output.