A useful demonstration annotation lets someone answer three questions: what happened, when did it happen, and what would count as success? The 9jaBots studio makes that structure editable in your browser. You can begin with an authored template, then replace its assumptions with evidence from your own recording.

Open a short, relevant recording

Create or select a project, add a task from a starter template or a blank task, and select “Open your video”. The current studio accepts browser-supported video files smaller than 250 MB. A short MP4 or WebM is a practical starting point. Playback depends on the codecs your browser supports.

The clip opens locally and is not uploaded by the studio. Opening a recording marks its provenance as human-recorded, with permission and review still pending. That label records your source choice; it is not independent verification of who made the recording or what rights you hold.

Describe each visible step

In the Steps view, set a start and end time in seconds. Enter the action, the object it concerns and the outcome that should be visible afterwards. Selecting a step seeks the attached video to its start so you can check the boundary.

  • Use an action such as “Pick” or “Place” rather than an unexplained step number.
  • Name the actual object: “sealed water sachet” is more informative than “item”.
  • Describe an observable result, such as “sachet rests inside the tray”.
  • Keep steps ordered and non-overlapping, with each end later than its start.

The studio checks time ranges and requires actions, objects and outcomes. It also checks that annotated steps fit within an attached clip. Passing those checks establishes structure, not factual correctness. Watch the recording and correct every inherited template label.

A single step might describe:

{ "start": 3, "end": 7, "action": "Pick",
  "object": "sealed water sachet",
  "outcome": "Sachet supported without puncturing." }

Add context and rights

Open Context & rights to edit the task title, English and Pidgin instructions, environment, objects and success condition. Use a contributor reference that is useful for your collection records. Record permitted uses or a licence reference, then declare recording permission and self-review accurately.

A checkbox does not obtain consent or create reuse rights. Keep the underlying permission record separately. Exported metadata preserves your declarations so a later reviewer can see whether a draft still needs work.

Keep a project you can reopen

Group related tasks in a named project. Export a project backup to preserve its tasks and annotations, and import it later to continue your work. You can also import an individual annotation JSON file as a new task. Imports add work without overwriting existing projects. Reattach your original videos when you need to inspect the source footage.

Export a sidecar, keep the source

Export annotations downloads JSON containing the task, timed steps, media metadata and provenance. The original video is not embedded. Keep the JSON and original clip together in your own storage; browser draft recovery cannot restore the video file itself.

The navigation template also offers a command-task export for the task benchmark. Choose the expected action and, for navigation, a destination. Confirm that both language instructions match that result. Manipulation tasks export annotation sidecars. These files serve different purposes; neither contains synchronised robot control trajectories.

Bring people into the project

Use 9jaTesters to request collection, annotation, testing or human review. Describe the task, volume, location or languages, and acceptance criteria in your brief. For contributor opportunities, join the 9jaTesters workforce.