Merritt’s Walk of Stars is saddling up for a digital upgrade.
The Canadian Country Music Heritage Society (CCMHS) is adding QR code plaques to the wood frames of the Walk of Stars handprints located around the downtown core.
A QR code is a machine-readable code that consists of black and white squares, most commonly used for storing URLs or information that can be read using the camera of a smartphone.
People can now scan their phone over these codes to connect to the Country Music Hall of Fame’s website.
The technology provides users with immediate, web-based access to information about the Hall of Fame facility, as well as artists and events.
CCMHS president, Ron Sanders told the Herald that the QR code technology will eventually be used to give users links to other websites such as Michelle Loughery’s Wayfinder Project, the Rockin’ River Music Festival and the British Columbia Country Music Association.
At the moment, the codes only link to the CCMHS website.
The plaques are a first step in the society’s usage of the QR code technology. The CCMHS stated in a press release it has the ability to incorporate audio and visual links with each of the artist profiles at the Country Music Hall of Fame with a similar QR code approach.
Sanders said the intention is to give people mobile access to their website, where they can learn more about an artist, and eventually link to the artist’s website as well.
The installation of the QR code plaques on the Walk of Stars is currently underway. Sanders said there will be about 50 of these code plaques set up around town, and some have already been put in place. Sanders said the QR codes will be implemented with artist plaques at the hall of fame in the springtime.
