A Brief Introduction to Barcodes
Barcodes are used everywhere: trains, planes, passports, post offices... you name it. And just as numerous as their applications are the systems themselves. Everybody's seen a UPC barcode like this one:
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| [1] |
But what about one like this on a package from UPS?
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| [2] |
This is a MaxiCode matrix, and though it looks quite different from the UPC barcode, it turns out that these systems use many common techniques for storing and reading data. Both consist of black or white "modules" which serve different purposes depending on their location. Some modules are used to help with orientation when scanning the barcode, some act as data storage, and some provide error correction in case the modules are obscured. (I won't address how the error correction algorithms work, but those who are interested can read more here [3].)
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The diagram above shows the orientation patterns used in UPC barcodes to designate the start, middle, and end of the barcode, as well as how the data-storage modules are encoded. The last digit of a UPC barcode is not used to store data, serving instead as a checksum to verify that no errors were made when printing or reading the barcode.
Though they look quite different, MaxiCode matrices employ the same
mechanisms:
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| [5] |
I want to stop here for a moment and just appreciate the intricacy of this system. The tinkerer in me can't help but wonder, How could someone possibly figure all this out? For better or for worse, there is no need to figure it out since MaxiCode is public domain and Wikipedia has all the answers. But wouldn't that be an interesting puzzle?
If you answered no, here's a QR code for your troubles:
For those of you still reading, I'd like to introduce another barcode system, and the guest of honor in today's adventure: Snapcode.
Snapcode is a proprietary 2D barcode system that can trigger a variety of actions when scanned in the Snapchat app. Snapcodes can add a friend, unlock image filters, follow a link, and more. Unlike MaxiCode, however, there is no public documentation about how the Snapcode system works! Thus the scene is set. Driven merely by curiosity, I set out to answer the following questions:
1. What data do Snapcodes encode?
2. How do Snapcodes encode data?
3. What actions can be triggered when these codes are scanned?
