Brazil is adapting QR Code technology to give their info while they're touring around Rio de Janeiro.
Since Rio de Janeiro will be hosting the 2016 Olympics, they've been upgrading the city to prepare for the overload of tourists that the Games are bound to bring in. They've adapted technology by putting two-dimensional bar codes, or QR codes, right in the sidewalk of certain areas, the Associated Press reports.
With a downloaded application, tourists who stumble upon the street QR codes can scan them with their smartphones or tablets. They're then directed to a website that provides them with information about the area in Portuguese, Spanish or English.
For instance, those who scanned the large QR codes that were installed at Arpoador on Friday were directed to information about how big Aproador's waves get, making it a perfect surfing destination.
This is just one of 30 QR codes that will be placed in areas such as beaches, vistas, historic sites and others, giving Rio's two million tourists a bit more information right at their fingertips.
"If you add the number of Brazilian tourists, this tool has a great potential to be useful," Marcos Correa Bento, head of the city's conservation and public works told AP.
Tourists are already trying out the new technology and they seem to approve.
"We use so much technology to pass information, this makes sense," Raul Oliveira Neto, a 24-year-old visitor from the Southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre told AP."It's the way we do things nowadays."
Oliveira noted that this technology is also used in Portugal.
Those from Rio also seem to approve of the addition to their city.
"Rio doesn't always have information for those who don't know the city," Diego Fortunato, 25 said. "It's something the city needs, that it's been lacking."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
