Touch n' Tag: digital annotation of physical objects with voice tagging

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to explore the possibilities and use of a mobile technology‐supported audio annotation system that can be used for attaching free‐formatted audio annotations to physical objects. The solution can help visually impaired people to identify objects and associate additional information with these objects.

Design/methodology/approach

A human‐centred design approach was adopted in the system's development and potential end‐users were involved in the development process. In order to evaluate the emerging use cases, as well as the usefulness and usability of the application, a qualitative field trial was conducted with ten visually impaired or blind users.

Findings

The findings show that visually impaired users learned to use the application easily and found it easy and robust to use. Most users responded positively towards the idea of tagging items with their own voice messages. Some users found the technology very useful and saw many possibilities for using it in the future. The most common targets for tagging were food items; however, some users had difficulties in integrating the solution with their everyday practices.

Originality/value

This paper presents an innovative mobile phone application with a touch and audio user interface. The actual use cases describe the everyday needs of visually impaired people and this information might be valuable to service providers and technology developers. Also, the experiences gained from these trials can be used when developing software for the visually impaired on other platforms.

Citation

Konttila, A., Harjumaa, M., Muuraiskangas, S., Jokela, M. and Isomursu, M. (2012), "Touch n' Tag: digital annotation of physical objects with voice tagging", Journal of Assistive Technologies, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 24-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/17549451211214337