System for capturing non-audible information from an open-environment for processing

A system is disclosed which comprises an optical capture device 103 operable to optically scan an area. A visual object 101 to be processed has associated therewith a triggering identifier that is recognizable by the optical capture device. Once the optical capture device recognizes a triggering identifier it processes non-audible information captured from the visual object. The optical capture device may first perform a wide-area optical scan, and it may analyze this to determine whether a triggering identifier is recognized within such open-environment. If a triggering identifier is recognized, the optical capture device may perform a further optical scan, at a higher resolution, of the particular visual object identified by the triggering identifier.