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New Lookout App from Google Detects Surrounding Items for People with Visual Disabilities

Mar 15, 2019

Google has announced that its Lookout app, which uses the phone's cameras and sensors to identify objects and text, is now available on Pixel devices in the United States.

Lookout uses artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize items and speak them aloud as they're detected.

According to Google, Lookout was designed for "situations where people might typically have to ask for help—like learning about a new space for the first time, reading text and documents, and completing daily routines such as cooking, cleaning and shopping."

They are recommending wearing your Pixel device around your neck with a lanyard or keeping it in a front-facing shirt pocket — and there seem to be two really good reasons for this. The first is so the camera has a clean view of the same direction your body is facing. Second, Google says, "Once you’ve opened the Lookout app, all you have to do is keep your phone pointed forward. You won’t have to tap through any further buttons within the app, so you can focus on what you're doing in the moment."

AI is revolutionizing how people interact with not only the digital world, but the physical world around them. Its continued growth was one of our 2019 major digital marketing predictions.

Related:

Lookout can be downloaded now on Google Play.

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