Interactive kiosk and portable electronic device with communication abilities, and public communication methods

A kiosk that communicates with a portable electronic device, the kiosk comprising:

• a base constructed for installation in a public setting;
• an interface that is supportable by the base, and receives user input corresponding to content requested by a user;
• a control system comprising at least one computer processor that, as a result of executing computer-accessible instructions, causes the control system to access information stored by a non-transitory computer memory and generate an output comprising a computer-readable code encoding the content requested by the user;
• and
• a display device operatively connected to the control system to graphically display the computer-readable code in a manner to be captured by an optical imaging device provided to the portable electronic device, wherein the computer-readable code is interpreted by the portable electronic device as a result of being captured by the optical imaging device, causing the portable electronic device to execute computer-executable instructions stored by the portable electronic device to perform an operation corresponding to the computer-readable code.