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We’ve already seen wallpapers adapted to block Wifi signals and even create virtual grocery stores, and now we’ve come across an innovation aimed at the budding reader. A collaboration between Vodafone Romania, furniture retailer MobExpert, and McCann Bucharest, the Digital Library Wallpaper uses QR codes to create a flat, virtual bookcase for those with little floor space.

Originally conceived to increase the amount of mobile data usage in Romania, the Digital Library Wallpaper is designed to emulate the appearance of a traditional wooden bookcase. To choose the books that will appear on their wallpaper, users must first log on to the Biblioteca Digitala site and select from the range of free titles on offer. A nice attention to detail is that they can even add photos and decorations to the bookcase to give it a more natural appearance. The adhesive wallpaper can be ordered at around USD 100 for a roll, and it will then be delivered for users to mount themselves. Once in place, books can be read by scanning the QR codes located on their spines with a mobile or tablet, as can be see in the video below:

The wallpaper not only offers a space saving solution for the consumer and increases mobile data usage for Vodafone, it also presents new opportunities for publishers and writers. With that said, however, the books currently offered are only licensed to Vodafone until September 2014, after which time the QR codes may become little more than fancy barcodes linking to expired pages. Regardless, it’s an interesting concept, and it’s worth considering how else QR codes could be included on wallpaper for different uses.