We’re curious as to whether you’d like to see this feature on all of your NOAA POD charts or if you would prefer to keep using whatever your current method is for gathering information. Let us know in the comments section below.
OceanGrafix, the exclusive provider of NOAA print-on-demand (POD) nautical charts for U.S. waters, announced today that QR codes are now available on eight NOAA charts for the Tampa Bay, FL, area. The NOAA added the QR codes in an effort to test their effectiveness in providing valuable and timely information to mariners.
“While consumers have been somewhat slow to adapt to QR codes in other applications, this is the perfect scenario for how they should be used, and I hope mariners will take advantage of this unique feature,” says OceanGrafix president Ron Walz. “Having real-time navigational information at your fingertips will not only be convenient, but could also be a critical safety tool.”
Quick Response Codes, or QR codes, are two-dimensional bar codes that can be scanned by a smart phone to direct users to digital content online. In this instance, boaters can scan the QR codes on select NOAA nautical charts to access real-time data sites for important information such as tides, currents, and marine weather.
Instead of searching several websites to gather marine information, the QR code can be scanned once to immediately access up-to-date data for the boater’s particular geographic area. Numbered icons on the chart match up with the web menu.
After a four-month period, NOAA will evaluate the results of testing QR codes in the Tampa Bay area to determine whether the feature would be effective in other geographical areas. “We will look at the desirability, utility, and usability of the QR code, real-time data service,” says Dave Enabnit, technical director at the Office of Coast Survey, NOAA.
The QR code service is provided free of charge from NOAA on print-on-demand (POD) nautical charts purchased through OceanGrafix and its retailers.
For more information, go to www.oceangrafix.com.
Here is my answer: What is a QR code? How do you use it? What hardware is needed? Gee, sounds like a good idea!
Hi Richard! A QR code is that little black and white coded square that we show in the picture. You can scan it with your smartphone (if you have one) and it will link you to the most up to date NOAA information. They’re trying to make getting the latest info a quicker process, although we think it’s always important to have the non-technological methods available on board as well!
Sarah, thanks for the great reminder that it’s always smart to have “non-technological” navigational tools on board. That’s why we’re excited to introduce the new NOAA charts with QR codes – they offer mariners a unique balance by pairing the unmatched reliability of a paper chart with up-to-the-moment data that only technology can provide.
-Ron Walz, president of OceanGrafix
I THINK IT’S A GREAT IDEA, SO QUICKER DECISIONS CAN BE MADE WHILE NAVIGATING.