Developer Creates a TrueType Font That Turns Text into QR Codes

A developer known as Jim has released a project called “Jim's TrueType QR Code Font” — a TrueType-format font that turns typed text into a QR code.

The idea behind the project is to use the font-rendering mechanism itself to generate QR codes: instead of the usual letters and numbers, the font draws a graphical code that encodes the entered text. In this way, any application that supports installing and using custom TrueType fonts can potentially display QR codes without turning to specialized libraries or generation services.

The project is presented at qr.jim.sh, where you can take a look at the font itself and see how it works.

The details of the technical implementation — in particular, exactly how the font encodes arbitrary text into the graphical symbols of a QR code within the constraints of the TrueType format — are not spelled out in the project's public description. It appears that the work is more of a demonstration and a hobbyist effort, showcasing an unconventional use of font technologies that were originally intended to display text rather than graphics.

The project has drawn interest in the developer community as an example of the creative use of existing technical standards for something other than their intended purpose.

Source: Lobsters