Supporting voice content sharing among underprivileged people in urban India

Abstract

Recent advances in voice-based telecom information systems enable underprivileged and low-literacy users to access and offer online services without expensive devices or specialized technical knowledge. We propose SRLs (speech resource locators), a mechanism that facilitates the creation, access, and sharing of online voice content. To test the interaction with SRLs, we developed a proof-of-concept application that allows for simple sharing of voice content. We subsequently created a smartphone application for the same service that provided a graphical user interface to the online voice application. Our findings show that literate underprivileged people were able to share online voice content on feature phones and smart phones whereas in low-literacy people were unable to access shared content over feature phones but able to do so on smart phones. We conclude by highlighting opportunities and challenges for the design of voice-based applications that support information sharing. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.