Huawei's new app helps visually impaired read: Here's how
This year at IFA, Huawei didn't put up as great a show as other technology companies. The Chinese giant only unveiled a small set of products, leaving millions of its fans disappointed. But, among everything the company did unveil, one thing drew most of our attention - an app aimed at helping the visually impaired read. Here's all about it.
People with limited vision often find it difficult to read documents, menus, road signs, and papers with small text. The problem is pretty common, and now, Honor, the popular sub-brand of Huawei, is trying to fix it through an app called PocketVision. It comes for free and leverages Huawei's AI smarts and camera tech to help with seamless reading.
PocketVision comes with three modes to help people understand the text written on a piece of paper/board. The first mode, dubbed Negative image, uses a series of algorithms to change the color contrast of a document and its text in such a way that the user could parse the content easily. It could help people who struggle to see certain colors or are dyslexic.
Along with contrast adjustment, PocketVision comes with a built-in OCR that works in conjunction with AI to digitize the text written on a book, document, or menu and read it out aloud. It's simple text-to-speech conversion, but is pretty accurate. Also, the app leverages Huawei's camera tech to zoom in on the smallest text using volume buttons and make it bigger.
"Using this app, people with low vision have the ability to convert any text into a readable format, making the world a more accessible place, giving a greater sense of freedom," UK's Royal National Institute for the Blind said, while praising the app.
Having said that, it is important to note that PocketVision is only available for people using Huawei Honor 20 Pro. The program relies on the quad-camera setup of the phone and the company has not said anything about when other smartphone users will be able to download it. Meaning, you'd probably have to wait a bit to use it on your phone.
