URLs aren't confined to computer and smartphone screens. Look around carefully and you'll notice URLs printed in surprisingly many places: convenience store receipts, plastic bottle labels, utility pole advertisements, apartment flyers, and even gravestones. URLs have quietly but surely permeated our physical living spaces.
Receipt URLs are among the most familiar yet overlooked. Major convenience chain receipts include survey site URLs offering coupons for completion. About 80% of Japanese convenience store receipts contain some URL. However, receipt width (typically 58mm) limits printable characters to about 32 per line at 8-point font, making long URLs span multiple lines and increasing manual input errors. This drove many companies to adopt short URLs and QR codes on receipts.
Food package URLs serve as crucial consumer-company touchpoints. Japan's food labeling law requires allergen and nutrition details, but small packages lack space. Increasingly, packages include URLs for detailed information. Interestingly, food package URLs must function longer than the product's shelf life. Everyday trivia books are available on Amazon.
Engraving URLs on gravestones began spreading from Western countries in the 2010s. Memorial site URLs are carved into headstones, allowing visitors to scan QR codes and view the deceased's photos, videos, and messages. UK's "QR Memories" and Sweden's "Living Headstones" offer QR code plates for gravestones. However, gravestone URLs demand ultimate permanence across decades or centuries.
Utility poles, bus stops, manhole covers. URLs have entered urban infrastructure. Yokohama launched a project in 2023 placing QR codes on manhole covers linking to tourism information. These examples show URLs functioning as "portals" connecting physical and digital spaces. Our daily lives are surrounded by countless URLs without us realizing it.