By the end of the year, visitors to the two parks in Birmingham Township might want to bring Smart Phones to get a little more out of the experience. The Recreation, Parks and Open Space Committee proposed to the township Board of Supervisors during the Aug. 6 meeting that they explore getting interactive signs that have QR Codes.
QR stands for Quick Response. The codes “are used to take a piece of information from a transitory media and put it in to your cell phone,” according to searchengineland.com.
Mike Langer, chairman of the Birmingham RPOS, said the codes would allow visitors to Sandy Hollow and Birmingham Hill to access audio and video information about the parks and the history of the Battle of Brandywine through Smart Phones. Right now, the Smart Phone is the only piece of technology that works with the codes, Langer said, and those phones must have a QR app that reads the scannable code.
One of the advantages of having encoded signs is that people can get more information without there being extra text on the sign. QR codes hold more information than the ever-present barcodes.
According to Wikipedia: “QR Code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside the industry due to its fast readability and large storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. The code consists of black modules (square dots) arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of four standardized kinds ("modes") of data (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, Kanji), or through supported extensions, virtually any kind of data.”
No decision on the signs was made and Langer is still uncertain of what they might cost.
One cost that was decided was what was to be paid for three new park benches, two for Sandy Hollow and one for Birmingham Hill. Supervisors voted to spend $1,800 for the three benches that come with 50-year guarantees.
RPOS members are also exploring a monument for Sandy Hollow as well as ways of improving the trash and dog waste situation there. Langer said the dog waste station at Sandy Hollow has been vandalized.
Other business
• Supervisors issued certificates of appropriateness following Historic Architectural Review Board recommendations to do so. The Clark family received the OK for an addition to their Birmingham Road home and the Borers received permission to install a cedar shingle roof on their home, also on Birmingham Road.
• The board authorized advertising for snow removal bids. The bids will be opened during the Sept. 4 meeting.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...
Comments