Microsoft’s new visual AI app will free the blind

Microsoft today released a new app called Seeing AI which can change the lives of blind and low vision community. This app is built on ongoing research work at Microsoft which uses the power of AI to open up the visual world and describe nearby people, text and objects. Blind and low vision community people can just hold up their phone and hear information about the world around them. Seeing AI app can even recognize and locate the faces of people you’re with, as well as facial characteristics, approximate age, emotion, and more.

“I really do think this app will be a game changer for many as it’s just simple to use,” said Jenine Stanley, who is legally blind and reviews apps and technology for Main Menu, the American Council of the Blind’s tech radio show.

Features:

• Short Text: Speaks text as soon as it appears in front of the camera
• Documents: Provides audio guidance to capture a printed page, and recognizes the text, along with its original formatting
• Products: Gives audio beeps to help locate barcodes and then scans them to identify products
• Person: Recognize friends and describes people around you, including their emotions
• Scene: An experimental feature to describe the scene around you
• Currency: Identify currency bills when paying with cash. (Coming soon)

This app is now available in App Store for iOS customers in the United States, Canada, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore. Download it here from App Store. Learn more about this app here.