2011 10th International Conference on Mobile Business mTagATune: mobile TagATune Audio Files Tagging Mobile Game Francisco Javier Díaz, Claudia Alejandra Queiruga, Alejandro Ferraresso, José Luis Larghi LINTI – Facultad de Informática – UNLP La Plata, Argentina [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Abstract—mTagATune is a mobile application based on of a processing that produces information, which can TagATune [9] and developed in JAVA for Android later be used in other successive processing. cellphones. mTagATune implements the concept of GWAP encourages people to do voluntary work, but not GWAP [2] and seizes the capabilities and wide acceptance with the intention of obtaining income, as is the case of of current smartphones. GWAP promotes the creation of employment. If we think about the task of tagging computer games that encourage people to do voluntary music fragments, the amount of elements requiring work. mTagATune implements a game that collects information on audio files to facilitate future searches on processing is enormous which would require a them. By means of a collaborative game, mTagATune tremendous workforce to complete it, yielding the task enables an ubiquitous collection of information on audio impractical due to cost. files that can later be used in search results. Smartphones, with their many advantages, allow for the implementation of GWAP on mobile telephones, I. INTRODUCTION providing permanent access to the games and increasing Despite technological advances, computers still do not the amount of players (and, as a result, the amount of have the creativity or perception human beings have by hours dedicated to each game as well). This increases nature. Due to this fact, computers today cannot the data processed, which gives better use to the time subjectively classify certain sets of elements such as players spend on each game. audio files, image files, etc. Currently, data bases exist that contain thousands of II. BASES audio files, although searching these repositories with As we have mentioned before, Human Computation subjective criteria is not possible due to the fact that posits the theory that the brain can be seen as a small each audio file would have to be tagged first with words processor inside a distributed system, where each brain that necessarily convey subjective meanings. can process a small part of a much larger computation. One solution to this problem is using the technique Human Computation is a technique in which a known as Human Computation [1]. This technique computation executes its function by delegating certain views the human brain as a processor inside a steps to humans. In traditional computation, humans use distributed system, where each can process a small part a computer to solve a problem: the human provides the of a much larger computation. computer with a formalized description of the problem Currently, there are millions of people around the world and receives a solution they must interpret. Human who use digital games as a form of entertainment. Many Computation reverts the roles; the computer asks a of these games can be accessed through the Internet. human or group of humans to solve a problem and The massive expansion of mobile telephones allows collects, interprets and integrates their solutions. users to play games where they could not play before: This data analysis technique is called Human during trips or while queuing at the bank. The first Computation because it combines the collective games launched for mobile telephones were very simple intelligence of a certain number of human participants due to physical limitations, but with the new generation to solve a task that cannot be automatized easily. A of cellphones, the so-called smartphones, games are common example of Human Computation is the becoming more and more complex, with better Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell performance, even using resources such as global Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA). positioning systems and the Internet. CAPTCHA is a challenge-answer test used in computing to determine whether the user is human or One branch of Human Computation, called Games with not. The term was first used around the year 2000 by a Purpose (GWAP) [2] promotes the idea of creating Luis von Ahn, Manuel Blum and Nicholas J. Hopper games in which the activity people engage in forms part from Carnegie Mellon University, and John Langford 978-0-7695-4434-2/11 $26.00 © 2011 IEEE 331 DOI 10.1109/ICMB.2011.39 from IBM. The typical test consists of the user entering this mechanism, two or more players are shown the a set of characters shown in a distorted image on screen. same entry and they must agree on the output they A machine is supposedly unable to understand and enter produce to obtain points. For this mechanism to work, it the sequence correctly, leaving the human the only one is essential for users not to see the data generated by the able to pass the test. other users during the game. For this reason, users are GWAP is a combination of the Human Computation not allowed to communicate with each other when technique and the billions of people around the world playing. Tagging audio files presents some difficulties, willing to invest time playing online. The concept of as it is not simple for two users to coincide in the GWAP could be defined as games in which each description of an audio file. Unlike images, often participant processes a part of a larger computation, containing a few identifiable objects, sounds can be which is solved by combining the processing described by abstract concepts such as “temperature” contributed by each player. In this context, “processing” (e.g. warm, cold), “mood” (e.g. cheery, sad), a situation makes reference to the mental exercise the player it evokes (e.g. heavy traffic, festivals, etc.) or categories engages in to solve the part of the computation they are with no clearly defined boundaries (e.g. Acid-Jazz, assigned. Some examples of GWAP can be found in Jazz-Funk, Smooth Jazz, etc.). work by Luis von Ahn[3]; the Google engine has an As a counterpart to output-agreement there is another experimental version of a GWAP for the classification agreement mechanism, called input-agreement[8]. This of images, called Google Image Labeler[4]. The goal of mechanism presents each user with an entry (both users the Google Image Labeler game is to generate tags may get the same or different ones) and are asked to associated to images that can be used to improve image input information about this entry. At all times, the user search results. The mechanism of the game consists of can see the data the other user is inputting. When the showing two users an image, and for every match, both time ends, users are asked to determine whether both users get points. These points motivate users to input a received the same entry or not based on the data entered large amount of tags. Afterwards, when a word has been by each. If they guess correctly, they obtain points and entered many times for the same image, it is assumed their descriptions are assumed to be right. This that it describes the image correctly and fit to be used in mechanism does not demand that players produce the the search engine. Note that in this mechanism, players same input to obtain points, which grants more have no knowledge of who is their team mate during the flexibility and makes it a good option for games aimed game and have no way to communicate, thus it is at generating information from audio files. impossible for users to cheat by agreeing on the words TagATune [9] is an audio file tagging game that uses they will use. the input-agreement mechanism. GWAP-based games are not only used to generate III. SMARTPHONES: THE NEW DESKTOP information about images, they are also used for other types of multimedia data, such as audio files. There are We currently live in a world in which digital many games for this type of data in particular, such as communications have modified the way in which Listen Game[5] or MajorMiner[6]. In MajorMiner, people communicate. Mobile telephony has a central participants are asked to describe a 10-second song role in this change, as it is no longer used only for fragment, and points are assigned when their talking, but also for capturing and reproducing videos, descriptions match those of other participants. The user taking pictures, playing, keeping a work schedule, listens to the audio file and describes it in a few words. visiting news pages and using dynamic maps, among Words that had been used once before award the player others. a point. The player that uses a word first gets two Each day, cellphones come with more and more points. Words that have been used by at least two features, their screens are wider and more precise, they players previously award no points to the player. These come with better cameras, they play music and rules were written to encourage players to be incorporate GPS navigators. They are always-on mobile meticulous, and the length of the fragments is aimed at devices, and they represent a great challenge to the new making players more objective and specific. Similarly applications that stop being isolated entities that to Google Image Labeler, during the game, the user exchange information through user interfaces. This new cannot communicate with other participants or see the generation of applications allows users to share music, information they generated for the particular fragment. games, boards, live videos and others.