Discovery in physical world with Messenger’s new parametric QR codes

Facebook at last year’s F8 brought scannable profile codes to the mobile Messenger app, making it a cinch to add a person you’ve just met as your Messenger contact. At F8 2017 this week, the company is introducing parametric QR codes on the Messenger platform to help facilitate content discovery in the physical world.

Just like scanning a regular QR code in an app like Scanbot deciphers any embedded website or product URL, scanning a parametric QR code in the Messenger camera is the easiest way to discover additional information about basketball games, concerts and other events.

In a true Facebook fashion, scanning a parametric QR code pulls up an appropriate bot within Messenger rather than take you to an embedded webpage. Businesses can generate multiple parametric QR codes for one bot—for example, to track where a code was scanned, or to apply a different QR code for each table at a restaurant.

This also gives people the potential to scan the code via the Messenger camera instead of the app’s dedicated QR scanner feature buried deep within settings.

According to Facebook:

With parametric versions, businesses can generate multiple Messenger Codes for their bot and see which ones are being scanned the most. Separate codes can also be used to activate different bot functionalities when each is scanned.

For instance, hardware devices can feature parametric codes to allow people to link their account and control the device. Restaurants can assign tables using different codes, giving their bot a way to know where food should be delivered.

The short video below showcases the feature in action.

To stay in touch with the latest from F8, be sure to check out the official F8 website, download Facebook’s F8 app for iPhone from App Store or add the F8 bot from within Messenger.

Facebook Messenger is a free download from App Store.

Source: Facebook