A powerful mobile phone app helps blind users see the world.
See the world with an app. I'm Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
Shopping for groceries or seeing what's in the fridge can be challenging for people who are blind or have visual impairments. Now an app from Microsoft called Seeing AI can help. Microsoft senior program manager Jason Grieves says the app includes a text reader and object recognition software.
And so it's an app that will read text, it will help you identify currency. It will even help you identify friends and family in a crowd. And will help you talk about, are they smiling, are they frowning, are they looking at you.
Grieves himself has a visual impairment and is dedicated to coming up with solutions for people with disabilities. He's also a AAAS Lemelson Invention Ambassador, charged with inspiring others to become inventors. The Seeing AI app is free, and Grieves and his colleagues are adding new capabilities and new features all the time. I'm Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.