QR code, a kind of two-dimensional barcode, is used as shortcuts from physical media to online information in addition to object recognition purpose. However, QR code has become visually unpleasant with the global popularization of QR code. We propose a method to decorate QR code by arranging module (black and white cell) patterns to be similar to a target image. The proposed method takes a hierarchical approach; upper layer solver using Cooperative Evolution by User and System (CEUS) arranges input images, i.e., location, pose, and scale to form the target
image, and lower layer solver based on greedy search controls module pattern of QR code according to the target. A QR code designed by the proposed method completely satisfies QR code specifications and has visual meaning for human.

Makoto Kamizono, Kigo Shimomura, Masayuki Tajiri, Satoshi Ono: “Two-Dimensional Barcode Decoration Using Module-wise Non-systematic Coding and Cooperative Evolution by User and System”, Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) , pp.245-252 (2016).