Microsoft Enhances ‘Seeing AI’ App To Describe Product Boxes To The Blind
Ever since Microsoft first launched its Seeing AI application in 2017, the company has slowly been expanding its features to better aid blind and poor-sighted users.
For example, previous updates included audio descriptions of pictures in users’ camera rolls, with narrations of each object or person and its spatial relationship to the scene.
To commemorate World Sight Day, Microsoft has teamed up with Haleon—parent of companies like Advil, Centrum, ChapStick, Polident, and Sensodyne—to add more enhancements to the application, helping advance inclusivity and improve accessibility for those who need it most.
Users in the United States and the United Kingdom will have access to more detailed labeling information for over 1,500 Haleon products, granting them greater independence in everyday life.
By simply scanning the barcode on the back of an item, Seeing AI will read out important information on the packaging, such as the product’s name, ingredients list, and how it should be used.
With its audio cues, Microsoft hopes the application will provide “richer information” for visually impaired individuals, which could be an invaluable help for those facing such a problem daily.
“We believe everyone should have access to self-care products, services, and the information needed to make informed, proactive choices about their health needs,” explained Katie Williams, US Chief Marketing Officer at Haleon.
The Seeing AI application is free to download from the Apple App Store, and will be available on Android in the near future.
