Corn maze utilizes smartphone technology

People can use smartphones to navigate corn maze

JANESVILLE, Wis. — A popular local farm market is adding a high-tech twist to its annual corn maze.

Since 1998, Skelly’s Farm Market in the Janesville area has been coming up with some unique designs for its annual corn mazes.

This year is no different but, for the first time, people can use their smartphones to navigate through the rows and rows of corn.

People can use their smartphone to scan QR codes to check in at different check points in the maze.

Skelly’s Farm Market is able to monitor to time it takes people to complete the maze, and it will post the best times.

People can also use their phones’ GPS to help track their way through the maze.

As far as they know, Skelly’s Farm Market employees said they’re only ones in the country using the technology this way.

“People like having their smartphones. They’re getting adapted to them; they’re learning how to use them, and it’s fun to play with all the neat things,” said Scott Skelly, of Skelly’s Farm Market. “We can take something where people might be playing games on their phones, playing in the office. We can take that out on a real world thing, like a corn maze, and let them have some fun, doing some really neat things with that smartphone.”

For people who want to find their way through the corn maze, the old fashioned way, paper maps and paper checkpoint punch cards are also available.

For information on the corn maze at Skelly’s Farm Market, go to http://www.skellysfarmmarket.com/.