Posters are one of the most visible parts of many scientific meetings and virtually everyone who has attended the Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology has either presented one, or has looked at one—trying to make sense of the research. Not only are attendees pressed for time and are multitasking, they also often find that the poster has tiny text, a confusing layout, or that no one is there to answer their questions. Sometimes presenters provide a printed verision, which is useful, yet the size of the print usually makes it difficult to read without a magnifying glass. Some people collect business cards and promise to send their poster later. Ultimately, there is an infinite number of ingenious ways in which people share information beyond those few hours that a poster is on display.
You may have noticed the abundance of square pixelated images in the printed materials distributed at the Annual Meeting. These are called quick response (QR) codes and are used to encode information for various purposes. One of the most useful ways the QR codes are used is to encode a URL for a webpage where the information (e.g., your poster, contact information, and any other relevant materials) can be found.
The QR code is easily read by a smartphone or tablet with an appropriate application (app). Upon scanning the code, web links are opened negating the need to type in the address. The interaction with a QR code is saved to history on the phone and can be emailed for later reviewing. In addition, QR codes on posters provide a quick and simple way of merging printed materials with web and video content. Embedded links to references, contact information, animations, and copy of a poster itself may help pesenters to reduce the clutter of their poster and focus on the science that is being presented. As the author, you control what information is accessible via the QR code, and it could be either as much or as little as you would want—even just address information for further contact.
The process of generating a QR code for your poster is easy and requires two steps: (1) creating a web-presence for your materials; (2) generating a QR code image using one of many free web tools. The former step can be managed in a variety of ways. Some have access to dedicated websites (personal, lab, departmental, etc.) where information can be posted. Others may register for one of the cloud-storage services (e.g., Dropbox) that will host your files either for free or for a nominal fee. In either case, a URL pointing to the location of your file/files needs to be copied. Then, one can use a web-based QR code generator (e.g., QR Stuff.com or GOQR.me) to create a downloadable image that can be placed on the poster.
While QR codes offer the potential to enhance a poster in many ways, there are issues to consider before you use them. QR codes are not self-explanatory and not everyone has access to the Internet with their device or phone. Likewise, those with a suitable device might not have an application that reads QR codes, albeit those are plentiful and free for iPhone, Android, and Windows Mobile devices. From the point of the presenter, it should be noted that the use of a QR code requires planning. Given that many presenters do things at the last minute, making a QR code falls off the list.
Despite some shortcomings and limitations with “penetrance” of the QR code-enabled devices, this is something you should try. If anything, people may stop by just to ask you what that thing is!