I saw this on my breakfast cereal box (in the US) and looked it up. A company called Navilens made this to help visually impaired people with things like street signs, etc… neat!
EDIT TO ADD: Haha, I forgot I am on lemmy so we’re discussing the technology and licensing issues, instead of focusing on how this might improve the lives of visually impaired people.
I don’t know how the company is doing, but I do find it strange how large their team is (based on their website) for a service selling QR codes.
Then again, they do seem to have received government/EU grants, so perhaps they’ll be able to stick around that way. If the company does go down, there’s no reason why they couldn’t release a database of every (last known) data point so you can use the app offline for the codes that have stuck around.
A graceful shutdown is possible, and in my opinion, should be contractually obligated under escrow for a company to receive public funds like this.
It seems to me like they do more than just generate QR codes that download a static document. They’ve built out software that helps the visually impaired navigate pedestrian and transit infrastructure. The software seems pretty complex, beyond what a city would likely have the expertise or budget to build from scratch on its own.