The west was first introduced to QR codes on a large scale during the COVID alleged pandemic. Soon, it was no longer possible to take a train in Australia, enter a restaurant in California, go to a school soccer game in the United Kingdom, or even board a plane or access medical services in Canada, without a QR code.
The now infamous QR code, similar to the totalitarian COVID response embraced by most of the west, is a product of Asia (created by Denso Wave, a Japanese company), where it thrived, like any government overreach and abuse of its citizens, because of a weak-minded compliant population that defines Asian culture, may it be Japanese, Chinese or Korean.