Microsoft launches Talking Camera for the blind

Microsoft has launched a new app called Seeing AI, which has been described as a talking camera for the blind.

The app uses artificial intelligence and the camera of an iPhone or iPad to describe the world around it. It’s able to recognize text, objects, and people.

Using the app is as simple as pointing the camera at various objects and people. The app can recognize saved friends, or describe people based on their approximate age and how they look, and it can read text that it detects aloud.

Seeing AI can scan and read documents like books and letters, help with formatting, and it can see objects like money to identify specific denominations like rupees or dollars.

In shops, it can scan barcodes to help users shop, and it can also be used within other apps like Twitter for checking out images. Seeing AI is available in the United States, Canada, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore, and Microsoft plans to expand it to more countries.

Seeing AI can be downloaded from the App Store for free.