Introducing Annotation

Abstract

Annotation is generally referred to as being the process of adding notes to a text or diagram giving explanation or comment. At least, this is the standard definition found in the Oxford Dictionary [75]. As a definition, it is correct but think a little bit about today’s world. A world where the distinction between the virtual and the real world is slowly disappearing; physical windows which allow people in the real world and people in a virtual world to see each other (such as the virtual foyer in [141]) are starting to appear. These portals are not only limited to buildings, in fact the majority of them find their way in people’s pockets in the form of a mobile phone. Such phones go beyond the traditional voice conversations and allow their users to have video calls, internet access and the list of features can go on to even include emerging technologies such as augmented reality [223]. This extension of reality is obviously bringing about new forms of media and with it, new annotation needs ranging from the annotation of videos [199] or music [217] for semantic searches up to the annotation of buildings [192] or even humans [162].