The Free Art and Technology Lab (F.A.T) has created a series of 100 QR stencil designs that can be used to provide directions, information, and warnings to digital nomads in urban space.
The project – called “Hobo Codes” – is inspired by the Hobo signs developed by 19th century vagabonds and migratory workers to cope with the difficulty of nomadic life.
QR codes usually direct users to a URL, but the digital Hobo Codes contains simple information, such as an advice or warning. Scanning the codes reveal messages like “vegans beware”, “those aren’t women” and “it’s fake”.
The stencils are made using the “QR Stencil Generator”, a utility which converts QR codes into vector-based stencil patterns suitable for laser-cutting. The stencil generator is developed by Golan Levin and Asa Foster III.