A cross-platform usability evaluation of 2D visual tagging systems

Abstract

By encoding 2D bar codes that store URL links, SMS or plain text, 2D visual tags link infonnation about objects in the physical world to online or offline content. The existence of physical world hyperlinks in the fonn of 2D visual tags that are placed in the natural environment therefore makes new social and cultural interaction modes possible. Although 2D visual tagging systems have much potential to positively influence the way people, and Africans in particular, interact with the physical world, there has been no indepth evaluation or cross-platfonn usability assessment of available 2D visual tagging systems. Research in the field has primarily focused on the description and evaluation of prototype visual tagging applications. The deployment and use of 2D visual tagging systems have also not been comprehensively tested in Africa. To evaluate the 2D visual tagging paradigm, five 2D visual tagging systems were selected for this study.