These apps help identify objects around you and convert text to speach :
This app narrates the world around you, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to describe nearby people, text and objects. The app has a number of features, including speaking text as soon as it appears in front of the camera, providing audio guidance to capture a printed page and reading handwritten text. Identifies colours, scenes and currency. The app is an ongoing research project and as the research progresses, more channels may be added.
Available: IOS
Cost: Free
Describes the visual world around you with the help of artificial intelligence and OCR. Read text in over 60 different languages, use the magnifier, scan barcodes or your environment. Read documents – scan documents with one or multiple pages with the help of Envision in framing the document. Detects colour and reads neat handwriting.
Available: IOS and Android
Cost: Free 14 day trial then £4.99 a month or annual subscription of £39.99
The app uses the phone’s camera and VoiceOver functions to photograph objects and identify them for the user. You double-tap the device’s screen to photograph any two or three dimensional object at any angle, and the app analyses the image and gives you a description, out loud, within seconds.
Available : IOS and Android
Cost : Free
Transforms any natural or artificial light source it encounters into sound. Just run the application and point your phone’s camera in any direction. You will hear a higher or lower sound depending on the intensity of the light, enabling you to understand where light fixtures and windows are in a room.
Available : IOS
Cost : Free
It allows you to do an online search by simply taking a photo of an object – the app then uses mobile visual search technology to tell you what it is. It provides fast results with no typing necessary. Snap a picture and learn more. Search results include related images, local shopping results and a selection of web results, which are also easy to share through the app.
Available : IOS and Android
Cost : Free
This an app uses artificial intelligence to enable a visually impaired user to click a photo and get an instant description. It’s able to recognise objects, brands, colours, facial expressions, handwriting and text, and delivers an audible description of the image’s contents to the user. The interface is very accessible and gives the option to choose from three different modes of object and text recognition, as well as how fast you want the app to speak. Ensure voiceover is on.
Available : IOS
Cost : Free
“Let blind people see through your eyes” is their tagline and this app matches sighted volunteers with visually impaired users. The visually impaired person takes a photo of what he or she needs help with and attaches a voice message, which is sent to a community of volunteers (or sightlings as they call them). Within minutes, the user receives a reply and then rates out of five stars the helpfulness of the volunteer. This app is great because you get a description from a real human being, it’s very accessible and it’s quick.
Available : IOS and Android
Cost : Free
This an object and colour recogniser that uses artificial intelligence to help people with a visual impairment to understand their surroundings. Simply point your phone at the object of interest and press any of the recognition buttons at the bottom of the screen to turn on the artificial intelligence. The app will keep running and recognising objects until you switch to a different mode. Aipoly Vision can recognise 1,000 essential items for free, and many more through a subscription. You get the odd (often humorous!) inaccuracy but generally it’s pretty impressive.
Available : IOS and Android
Cost : Free or £4.99 monthly subscription for all features
This reads manufacturer’s barcodes and tells you the product name. In some cases it will give you a full description, usage instructions and ingredients. You can also record your own audio labels or make text labels that are read aloud by your phone, so that you know the difference between a can of dog food and a can of soup!
Available : IOS
Cost : £9.99
This takes a photo of text and then reads it aloud in clear synthetic speech. It is fully accessible using VoiceOver and if you’re worried about getting all the text in the photo, a tricky task if you’re blind, the app will help you. It has text detection so you know you have the printed side of the page. It also has tilt assist and viewfinder assist, helping you to get the whole page photographed. It could read letters, receipts, bills, menus or any other text and it does so instantly. This one comes with a much heavier price tag than any of the other apps listed but can be a real life changer.
Available : IOS and Android
Cost : £99.99
This app enables the user to very simply magnify text or objects up to 10x. You can have the light on or off and simply tap to focus. The simple features all work well with VoiceOver and it’s great for someone with a low level visual impairment for things like reading menus or receipts.
There is a built in magnifier in iOS 10 and later
Available : IOS and Android
Cost : Free
This provides personal on demand information about everyday things. Purchased WayTags are attached to items and useful information is stored in the app. Once tagged the item can be scanned and the stored information is spoken to you. WayTags come as stickers, magnets, buttons, and clips and can be re-used and the information edited.
WayTags are available from www.comproom.co.uk
Available : IOS or Android phone with NFC (Near-field communication) technology.
Whilst Warwickshire Vision Support may be able to suggest various third party websites and third party applications which may be able to assist you, those are not endorsed by Warwickshire Vision Support. Warwickshire Vision Support has no control over those third parties and cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of information and support they can provide or the suitability and quality of any products or services they provide.
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