Naslov
Embedding Function Icons into QR Codes

Autori
Filip Cvitić ; Jesenka Pibernik ; Josip Bota ; Ante Poljičak

Izvornik
Advances in intelligent systems and computing (2194-5357) 1313 (2021), 1; 161-170

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
Function Icons, Contrast, QR Code, Readability, Accessibility

Sažetak
This paper proposes an approach to produce high-quality visual QR codes introducing the concept of function icons (FI) - images embedded into QR code. FI design resembled abstract symbols, like identifiable and memorable smartphone app icons or logos. The embedding visually points to the function of a QR code and therefore is more attractive to the end-user than the traditional QR code. Also, the FI perceptual simplicity increases users’ navigation and accessibility over different media. For optimization, the proposed FI design was altered by pixel size, color, and luminance modification, without affecting the decoding reliably. The contrast between dark and light modules of the FI color tone was determined to a minimum of 70 % to enable the code reader's conversion of the image to grayscale and then segmentation it into black and white pixels. The eye-tracking research on QR codes with implemented icons confirmed the subjective attractiveness evaluation. The technical quality of the proposed design was verified with a QR code readability test. Since more than 95% of examinees successfully recognized the content behind a QR code before scanning and evaluated the design as more attractive than a traditional solution, we demonstrated that our approach produces high-quality results for a variety of FI designs.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Grafička tehnologija, Informacijske i komunikacijske znanosti

POVEZANOST RADA