In honor of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), we are introducing the most recent iteration of Seeing AI, which is driven by Microsoft’s most recent AI advancements, and letting you know that it is now, for the first time, accessible on Android smartphones through the Google Play Store. Seeing AI is currently available for Android in 18 languages*, with plans to expand to 36 languages by 2024.
Along with many others who are blind or have low vision, can use the free program Seeing AI to have a world narrative read to them directly from their smartphone. It helps people with a wide range of everyday tasks, including hearing descriptions of images, reading mail, and identifying commonplace items.
The most recent generative AI capabilities that were just published on iOS are included in the updated Android version thanks to user feedback:
Richer Photo Descriptions
On the Scene channel, in addition to a short synopsis, you may now touch “more info” to generate a comprehensive description that goes into much more depth about the image’s contents.
Chat to your documents
After you scan a document, you may communicate with Seeing AI to ask questions about items on a menu, the price of an item on a receipt, or to summarize an article. You can also hear the document read aloud.
At Microsoft, it create with and for people with disabilities by utilizing our technological capabilities. In order to better understand the areas where technology may be able to bring even more independence and enjoyment, a team of engineers and I worked with the blind community to develop Seeing AI, which was first published for iOS in 2017 as a research project.
You may simply point the camera or snap a picture and hear a description while using Seeing AI. Change the channels to hear information that is specific to you:
- Brief Text: utters words as soon as they come into view of the camera.
- Documents: Reads the information aloud in its original structure and offers voice instructions for taking a printed page. To find knowledge quickly, chat with Seeing AI.
- Products: Scan barcodes; hear the name and, if available, package information; follow the audio beeps for guidance.
- Scenes: To create a more detailed description, touch “more info” after hearing a description of the scene that was captured. Move your finger over the image to explore it and hear the locations of various objects.
- People: Make a list of your buddies nearby.
- Money: Is able to identify banknotes.
- Colors: Defines the color as viewed.
- Handwriting: Recognizes handwritten text in a variety of languages, such as that found on greeting cards.
Seeing AI will enable a great number of individuals in the blind and low vision population to use this technology in their daily lives. There are currently over 3 billion active Android users globally. We’ll keep collaborating with the community to comprehend suggestions and enhance the software. “Nothing about us, without us,” is the catchphrase. Also, as new iterations of the Seeing AI app are released, user input will remain crucial for developing AI-powered upgrades.