Microsoft's new iPhone app narrates the world for blind people

The app uses AI to recognize people, objects, and scenes

Microsoft has released Seeing AI — a smartphone app that uses computer vision to describe the world for the visually impaired. With the app downloaded, the users can point their phone’s camera at a person and it’ll say who they are and how they’re feeling; they can point it at a product and it’ll tell them what it is. All using artificial intelligence that runs locally on their phone.

The app works in a number of scenarios. As well as recognizing people its seen before and guessing strangers’ age and emotion, it can identify household products by scanning barcodes. It also reads and scan documents, and recognizes US currency. This last function is a good example of how useful it can be.

For more information: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/seeing-ai/