[lynnharry]

That's basically converting a QR scanner into a text detector. It might work but why do they need to be human-readable? Most part of the encoded string would be UUID that's useless for human eyes anyway. After scanning, the important info will also usually show on the phone screen.

[em3rgent0rdr]

I want it human readable so I'm not presented with QR codes when I'm in meatspace. I'd rather see a pixel-font that say MENU://JOES-CHICKEN when I want to look up the menu at my local chicken restaurant than look at a QR.

[em3rgent0rdr]

If part of the data is just a random number like a UUID that is meaningless to a human, well that number could simply be placed after the pixel-font text or as a rectangle outline...if using a 3x5 pixel font then that gives 4x5=20 bits per character cell, so a 128-bit UUID with 12 bits of overhead could fit within the space of 7 characters...fine...but at least put the parts of the info that the human can relate to (like that this a MENU for RESTAURANT) as pixel text so both the human and machine are happy.