1. An apparatus for direct annotation of objects, the apparatus comprising: a display device for displaying one or more images; an audio input device for receiving an audio signal; a storage device for storing a plurality of different visual notations each comprising a text or a graphic image and for storing a plurality of corresponding audio signals; a direct annotation creation module coupled to receive the audio signal from the audio input device and to receive a reference to a location within an image on the display device, the direct annotation creation module, in response to receiving the audio signal and the reference to the location within the image, automatically creating an annotation object, independent from the image, that associates the input audio signal, the location and one of the plurality of different visual notations; and an audio vocabulary comparison module coupled to the audio input device, the storage device and the direct annotation creation module, the audio vocabulary comparison module receiving audio input and finding a corresponding one of the plurality of different visual notations that matches content of the audio input.