Guided Story With Image Capture (plugin type unified_image) guides the respondent through capturing up to 4 photos, each with its own instructions, then optionally records a spoken narrative after the photos. It's wizard-driven.
What respondents see#
A greeting screen introduces the exercise. The respondent is guided through capturing a fixed number of images (1–4), one at a time, each with its own on-screen instruction text and — if configured — a semi-transparent overlay template to help them frame the shot and an orientation requirement (flat, portrait, or landscape). After the photos, an optional voice follow-up narrative records their commentary.
When to use it#
- Visual research that also wants qualitative context — "show us your pantry/desk/closet and tell us about it" — without splitting it into two separate questions.
- In-home audits, unboxing studies, or "show me your setup" research where a fixed, known number of photos is expected.
- Anywhere Pantry Checker's variable photo count isn't needed — use this when you know exactly how many images you need.
Configuring it in the builder#
Drag Guided Story With Image Capture from the StorySync AI Qual group onto your canvas — the wizard opens with Questions, Display Settings, and Text for Alerts. The Questions step's Image Section is the distinctive part:
- Greetings Text and Instructions — the welcome screen(s), splittable across multiple slides.
- Number of Images — how many photos the respondent needs to capture (1–4).
- Ask voice follow-up after image capture — toggle the narrative step on or off.
- Per image (1–4): Instruction Text, Overlay Template (URL of a semi-transparent framing guide), Select Orientation (Any / Flat / Portrait / Landscape), Custom Rules, and Image Tags (for AI-powered categorization used in conditional checks).
Settings reference#
| Setting | What it controls | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Images | Fixed photo count the respondent must capture | 2 |
| Ask voice follow-up after image capture | Whether a spoken narrative follows the photos | On |
| Overlay Template (per image) | Framing guide overlay shown during capture | Shared default overlay |
| Select Orientation (per image) | Required device orientation for that shot | Any (no requirement) |
| Is Loaded from Iframe | Marks the question as embedded in an iframe inside an external survey | Off |
| Auto Capture | Automatically take the photo once framing guidance is satisfied, instead of a manual shutter tap | Off |
| Real Time Image Guidance | Live on-screen feedback while framing the shot (only shown when Auto Capture is on) | On |
| Allow Image Upload | Let respondents upload an existing photo instead of using the camera live | Off |
| AI Source | Which AI engine analyzes captured images (for Image Tags / Custom Rules) | Gemini (or ChatGPT) |
| Voice Mandatory | Voice input required for the follow-up narrative | Off |
| Honor voice-permission globals | Follow survey-level voice/mic-permission setting, auto-skip if unavailable | On (recommended) |
| Default to Voice | Voice recording is the default input method for the follow-up | On |
| Enable Transcription | Live transcript while the respondent talks | On |
| Enable Voice Attribute Detection | Detect speaker gender/age/language/accent/human-vs-AI | On |
| Tap to Zoom Image | Let respondents tap the concept image to zoom in | Off |
| Enable Image Scrolling | Let respondents scroll through multiple images | Off |
| Enable Auto Probing | Let the AI generate its own follow-up questions on the narrative | Off |
| Use Whole Conversation | Feed the entire prior conversation into AI-generated probes | Off |
| Request Voice or Text Preference | Ask respondents whether they'd rather record or type (only when voice isn't mandatory) | Off |
| Concept Image Height | Height of the stimulus image as % of screen | 50% (range 30–70) |
| Question Font Size | Font size for question/instruction text | 17px (range 10–40) |
| Maximum Recording Duration | Cap on the follow-up narrative | 5 minutes (range 3–10) |
| Select Language | Speech-recognition language | English (+ 6 others) |
| Select Text Direction | LTR or RTL layout | Left to Right |
| Button Color | Primary action-button color | #34ac8b |
Logic support#
Stores captured images plus an optional open-ended narrative — condition operators are limited to Answered/Not answered. Image Tags can drive conditional checks within the structured story itself. See Logic, Flow & Conditions for survey-level condition operators.
Good to know#
- Custom Rules and Image Tags exist specifically to support AI-powered analysis and conditional logic inside the structured story flow — set these deliberately if downstream steps depend on what was photographed.
- Unlike Pantry Checker, the image count here is fixed at build time, not a respondent-chosen range.
Related guides#
- Question Types — overview and when-to-use table
- Pantry Checker — the variable-count image-capture sibling
- StorySync AI Qual — all 9 StorySync formats
- Logic, Flow & Conditions — operators and condition builder
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