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Brazil: High tech tourism in Rio

 

There’s an app for that

A woman holds a cell phone over a QR code made of black and white tiles on a sidewalk near the beach in Rio de Janeiro
A woman holds a cell phone over a QR code made of black and white tiles on a sidewalk near the beach in Rio de Janeiro
Silvia Izquierdo / AP

Rio de Janeiro is mixing tech with tradition to provide tourist info about the city by embedding QR codes into black and white mosaics on sidewalks. The first codes were installed last month near Ipanema beach. Tourists can download an app to their smartphones or tablets, then scan the code and be taken to a website with a map of the area with descriptions in Portuguese, Spanish and English. The city plans to install 30 of the codes at beaches, vistas and historic sites, so Rio’s 2 million foreign visitors can learn about the city as they walk around.

Associated Press

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