Making a QR code reader

You have probably seen QR codes in various places, and perhaps even used a few to pick up links from posters or adverts. However, they can be far more useful if you make your own. The following example discusses how we can use the Raspberry Pi to read QR codes and the hidden content (or even link to an audio file or video).

This could be used to create your own personalized Raspberry Pi QR code jukebox, perhaps as an aid for children to provide solutions to math problems or even to play an audio file of you reading your kid's favorite book as they follow along page by page. The following screenshot is an example of a QR code:

You can use QR codes to make magical self-reading books

Getting ready

This example requires a setup similar to the previous examples (except we won't need mencoder this time). We will need to install ZBar, which is a cross-platform QR code and barcode reader, and flite (a text-to-speech utility that we used in Chapter 6, Using Python to Drive Hardware...