(geo) phone tag is a system that allows users to leave audio messages about specific locations via telephone, which are then uploaded to an online sound map. Participatory visual and sound maps, such as Foundcity and City of Memory, enhance exploration of places by allowing users to share personal stories and experiences. Future developments for (geo) phone tag include expanding its address database, increasing user participation, and exploring additional applications such as reviews and disaster relief.

1. (Geo) Phone Tag
• Leave messages about a location using your
telephone.
• Explore a place through audio messages left by
others.

2. (Geo) Phone Tag
• Recent efforts involved with mapping geocoded visual
and textual information have given us many rich
interfaces with which to explore a place through a
web browser.
• Enabling users to participate by adding their own
content to these maps makes the experience even
more compelling.

3. (Geo) Phone Tag
Examples of participatory visual-based maps:
• Foundcity
“Foundcity is a social mapping tool for creating a
personalized map of your life on-the-fly. From
your computer or cell phone, you tag locations,
add photos, label them with any words you want,
and plot them to your map, which you can share
with friends, keep private, or publish openly.”
• mappr
“Mappr is an interactive environment for
exploring place, based on the photos people take.”

4. (Geo) Phone Tag
• Maps with audio content - sound maps - offer the
opportunity to explore a location with sound.
• The voice is an direct and compelling medium to tell
and listen to stories.

5. (Geo) Phone Tag
Examples of participatory sound maps:
• City of Memory
“City of Memory is a narrative map of New York
City that is currently being created as a web
application by Local Projects and CityLore.
Visitors will share in a collective memory through
experiencing and submitting place-based stories.”
• NYSoundmap
“The NYSoundmap is a container - a concept or
idea to hold many types of processes and projects.
This online sound map is only one of these
possibilities.”

6. (Geo) Phone Tag
• (Geo) Phone Tag is a system built in Asterisk that
enables users to enter their stories about a specific
place using any telephone.
• Users call a telephone number, enter a street address
and leave a message.
• The message is automatically uploaded to an online
sound map at the location entered.

7. (Geo) Phone Tag

8. (Geo) Phone Tag
Future of (Geo) Phone Tag:
• Widen scope by connecting to larger address
database
• Encourage participation
• Use content in conjunction with field recordings in a
sound map installation
• Explore other possible uses:
– port sound map to mobile devices
– restaurant reviews or advertisements as content
– aid in disaster relief