Avaaj Otalo

Abstract

In this paper we present the results of a field study of Avaaj Otalo (literally, "voice stoop"), an interactive voice application for small-scale farmers in Gujarat, India. Through usage data and interviews, we describe how 51 farmers used the system over a seven month pilot deployment. The most popular feature of Avaaj Otalo was a forum for asking questions and browsing others' questions and responses on a range of agricultural topics. The forum developed into a lively social space with the emergence of norms, persistent moderation, and a desire for both structured interaction with institutionally sanctioned authorities and open discussion with peers. For all 51 users this was the first experience participating in an online community of any sort. In terms of usability, simple menu-based navigation was readily learned, with users preferring numeric input over speech. We conclude by discussing implications of our findings for designing voice-based social media serving rural communities in India and elsewhere.

The Little We Know: An Exploratory Literature Review on the Utility of Mobile Phone‐Enabled Services for Smallholder Farmers

“…Only one study has examined an m-service to facilitate social learning and exchange, although much of the focus rests on usage rather than impacts. Patel et al (2010) assess the performance of the social media aspect of Avaaj Otalo in India, which offers farmers a platform to ask questions via recorded audio messages, which are then answered by service provider staff or other farmers. The users valued in particular the possibility to listen to other farmers' questions and the recorded answers.…”

Revisiting “Hole in the Wall” Computing

“…The Spoken Web [18], for instance, although primarily a keypad-based input system, was able to recognise some simple spoken words. A similar system, Avaaj Otalo [35], allowed a choice between touch (DTMF) input or voice commands for navigation, and found that 100 % of its users preferred touch-tone input. This is in contrast to research by Sherwani et al [42], who discovered that speech interfaces outperformed touch-tone equivalents by lower-literate users for more conversational speech input.…”

A Wireless Network Infrastructure Architecture for Rural Communities

“…Voice communication with voice-based applications that provides both global internet content and region specific information for areas with low-literacy has been a major attraction for developing countries [10,11]. These applications range from micro-gaming console to micropayment applications.…”