Masahiro Hara

Masahiro Hara
原 昌宏
Masahiro Hara
Masahiro Hara
BornAugust 8, 1957
Tokyo
NationalityJapanese
Alma materHosei University
Known forInventing the QR code
AwardsEuropean Inventor Award

Masahiro Hara (Japanese: 原 昌宏, Hepburn: Hara Masahiro, born on August 8, 1957) is a Japanese engineer and Hosei University graduate who is best known for inventing the QR code in 1994.[1][2]

Early life and education

Hara was born in Tokyo in 1957.[3] He studied in the department of electric and electronic engineering at Hosei University.[1][4] He graduated in 1980.[5]

Career

Example of a QR code for mobile English Wikipedia

Denso and QR code invention

After graduating from Hosei University, Hara was working at the Japanese company Denso, which is a subsidiary of the Toyota Group. From then on, Hara started working to develop a barcode system.[6] In 1992, in Denso's developing department (later Denso Wave), Hara had been given a task to develop a new 2D code system that is capable of productively tracking components used in the automotive industry, thus started a new project.[7][8][9][10] One day at work, over a lunchtime game of go, he recognized the game's black and white pattern could be used to encode information.[6] He also made an investigation on publications to seek a unique proportion for the position pattern to make sure that readers could be able to identify.[11] The code was introduced in 1994.[12]

In 2021, QR codes were being used to book and track COVID-19 tests and contact tracing.[6] Hara has stated that he would like to develop QR codes for additional medical purposes, including imaging such as x-rays or electrocardiogram data.[2] Hara still works for Denso as of 2024.[1]

Japan International Cooperation Agency

Hara was the chief engineer and advisor for a Japan International Cooperation Agency's "School For All" program to improve education in Niger.[13][14]

Selected publications

  • Co-author of chapters 7 & 12 of "Educational development through community-wide collaboration", 2020 book "Community Participation with Schools in Developing Countries" ISBN 9780429057472[15][16]

Awards

Masahiro Hara has been widely recognized for his revolutionary invention of the QR code, which has transformed industries across the globe. In 2014, he and the inventors of the QR code development team were awarded the European Inventor Award.[17] The 2014 award ceremony took place on June 17 in Berlin, at Deutsche Telekom's Berlin Representative Office (Former Kaiserliches Telegrafenamt), in honor of the 20th anniversary of the invention.

Hara and his portrait made with Lego by the French artist qargo
Hara and his portrait made with Lego by the French artist qargo

In October 2024, Masahiro Hara made his first visit to France to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his invention. [18][19] He was invited by his friend, contemporary artist qargo, one of the pioneers in incorporating QR codes into art. Hara was the guest of honor at the 10th edition of the 1to1 Experience Client event in Biarritz, held from October 1st to 3rd, where he shared the story of the QR code's creation. Hara highlighted how QR codes have transformed various sectors, from facilitating over 2 billion daily payments in China to being used for electronic ticketing and everyday smartphone applications.

During the event, qargo unveiled a special artwork dedicated to Hara to mark this technological milestone. [20] Hara humorously mentioned that he can still decode a QR code manually using just paper and pencil.

He also discussed the future potential of QR codes, envisioning colored versions capable of storing up to 7,000 characters, including short videos, directly viewable on the code. [19]

A world QR code day was created on August 8, in honor of the date of birth of its inventor.

  1. ^ a b c "Meet the Man Who Invented The QR Code". Worldcrunch. 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  2. ^ a b Oba, Yumi (19 November 2021). "'Father of QR code' says the technology's future is in storing important medical information". SBS Japanese. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  3. ^ "TEDxAnjo | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  4. ^ Hara, Masahiro (2019). "Development and popularization of QR code: —Code development pursuing reading performance and market forming by open strategy—". Synthesiology English Edition. 12 (1): 19–28. doi:10.5571/syntheng.12.1_19. S2CID 203138539.
  5. ^ "Members of Faculty Pamphlet" (PDF). Hosei University. p. Cover page. "Hosei Alumnus, Masahire Hara invented QR code (1994) Denso Cp. Ltd. Graduated from Hosei University in 1980
  6. ^ a b c "'I'm pleased it is being used for people's safety': QR code inventor relishes its role in tackling Covid". the Guardian. 2020-12-11.
  7. ^ Gapper, John (2020-10-30). "Ant and Covid have made the humble QR code a hit". Financial Times. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  8. ^ "The Little-Known Story of the Birth of the QR Code". nippon.com. 2020-02-10.
  9. ^ Boulton, Jim (2014). "The QR Code". 100 Ideas that Changed the Web. Quercus Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78067-642-5. This all changed in the early '90s at Denso Wave, a subsidiary of Toyota. An engineer called Masahiro Hara was tasked with creating a barcode that could hold more information than the existing format. His solution was the Quick Response (QR) code...
  10. ^ Dobrescu, Andra (July 2015). "Implications of QR Codes for the Business Environment". Calitatea. 16 (S3): 166–169. ProQuest 1694670714.
  11. ^ "History of QR Code". Denso Wave. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  12. ^ Goodrich, Joanna (13 November 2020). "How a Board Game and Skyscrapers Inspired the Development of the QR Code". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News.
  13. ^ Kharas, Homi J.; Linn, Johannes F. (2013). Getting to Scale: How to Bring Development Solutions to Millions of Poor People. Brookings Institution Press. pp. 296, 300. ISBN 978-0-8157-2419-3.
  14. ^ "JICA Experts, Back in Japan, Are Granted an Audience with Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino, Princess Mako and Princess Kako" (Press release). Japan International Cooperation Agency. 1 October 2018.
  15. ^ "Community Participation with Schools in Developing Countries: Towards Equitable and Inclusive Basic Education for All". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  16. ^ Maruyama, Takao; Kurosaki, Takashi (December 2021). "Do remedial activities using math workbooks improve student learning? Empirical evidence from scaled-up interventions in Niger". World Development. 148: 105659. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105659. S2CID 239705164.
  17. ^ Office, European Patent. "Masahiro Hara, Motoaki Watabe, Tadao Nojiri, Takayuki Nagaya, Yuji Uchiyama (Japan)". www.epo.org.
  18. ^ "[1to1 Experience Client] Le 'papa du QR Code', invité du salon biarrot". www.e-marketing.fr/ (in French). 2024-10-01. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  19. ^ a b "A Biarritz, le QRCode fête ses 30 ans : « je n'avais pas imaginé qu'il se répandrait à ce point », dit son créateur - The Media Leader FR". fr.themedialeader.com (in French). 2024-10-01. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  20. ^ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2024-10-22.

References

Further reading