Monmouth: A Welsh Town Filled with QR Codes Linked to Wikipedia

I’ll admit, I haven’t ever scanned a QR code. For those not in the know, QR codes are those square shaped bar-code-esque pictures that you can scan with an app on your phone, and it’ll take you to a website. However, they can be useful, and the town of Monmouth in Wales is banking on that. During a TED talk, there was a challenge issued to cover a town in QR codes. It took them 6 months and a lot of Wikipedia updating, but now there are over 1000 QR codes in the town (via Gizmodo).

Now if you see a cool looking church and building, and snap a picture of it, you’ll be able to explain to your relatives what exactly the picture is of, besides “cool looking building.” The QR code will take you to a related Wikipedia page (in 25 different languages, no less) and will detail exactly what you are looking at. Sure, it might look gimmicky or tacky, but you can’t argue that it’s very tourist-friendly. Well, you can argue – I’m a lover, not a fighter – the QR code on my butt will tell you the same. Check out a video on the process below.