Blind and Visually Impaired Community
↑
13
↓
Isn't seeing AI amazing? (self.Blind)
submitted 5.326358957047325y ago by bradley22
I'd like to get a discussion going about Seeing AI, the app from microsoft that really has changed my life.
I downloaded KNFB reader when it first came out. I'm not sure how much I payed for it but I believe it was something like £95. I'll be honest with you and say I hardly used it. Oh, I may have used it to read some things but most of the time it just sat there and has now been removed from my phone.
I found the OCR to be okay but no where near perfect and the presentation hiped the app up so much that when I got it, I was disappointed.
I moved on, using apps like TapTapSee, and BeMyEyes. Then I heard the news, seeing AI, the app I'd been reading about and wanted to test on my phone has arived in the UK app store. I was excited as I am for any new cool sounding appp release but remembering my experiences with KNFB Reader, I thought "the OCR isn't going to be that good, so don't get your hopes up."
I've never been happier to be so wrong in my intire life.
I downloaded the app and tried out this "short text" mode. It read everything and I mean everything I put in front of it!
Computer screens, TV screens, boxes, hot sauce bottles, Adidas body wash, crisp (chip) packets, coak and drink bottles, anything I put in front of it it read!
I tried the document mode and while I don't use it that much, it is awesome! It puts the headings where they're meant to be, puts bulleted lists where they're meant to be and so on. As far as I know, you don't get that with KNFB reader.
I've used the light mode to tel me if there is a light on in the house. (By the way, the scale they use, i'm not sure what it is but I love it.)
I've tried the money mode,, it's okay but could do with a bit of work, it's slow and makes my phone heet up a lot.
I have no use for the scene mode and the faces mode but I'm sure they're good too.
The posatives of using this app: Short text mode is amazing.
document mode is awesome.
Light mode is musical and just sounds cool.
The down sides: The app can be slow to navigate at times.
The money mode needs work.
Your phone may heet up when using the app.
Over all I'd give this a 9 out of 10. Hello Seeing AI, good bye KNFB reader.
For those that use Seeing AI, what were your first experiences like? Were they as good as mine? Were they better, worse? Tell us.
I downloaded KNFB reader when it first came out. I'm not sure how much I payed for it but I believe it was something like £95. I'll be honest with you and say I hardly used it. Oh, I may have used it to read some things but most of the time it just sat there and has now been removed from my phone.
I found the OCR to be okay but no where near perfect and the presentation hiped the app up so much that when I got it, I was disappointed.
I moved on, using apps like TapTapSee, and BeMyEyes. Then I heard the news, seeing AI, the app I'd been reading about and wanted to test on my phone has arived in the UK app store. I was excited as I am for any new cool sounding appp release but remembering my experiences with KNFB Reader, I thought "the OCR isn't going to be that good, so don't get your hopes up."
I've never been happier to be so wrong in my intire life.
I downloaded the app and tried out this "short text" mode. It read everything and I mean everything I put in front of it!
Computer screens, TV screens, boxes, hot sauce bottles, Adidas body wash, crisp (chip) packets, coak and drink bottles, anything I put in front of it it read!
I tried the document mode and while I don't use it that much, it is awesome! It puts the headings where they're meant to be, puts bulleted lists where they're meant to be and so on. As far as I know, you don't get that with KNFB reader.
I've used the light mode to tel me if there is a light on in the house. (By the way, the scale they use, i'm not sure what it is but I love it.)
I've tried the money mode,, it's okay but could do with a bit of work, it's slow and makes my phone heet up a lot.
I have no use for the scene mode and the faces mode but I'm sure they're good too.
The posatives of using this app: Short text mode is amazing.
document mode is awesome.
Light mode is musical and just sounds cool.
The down sides: The app can be slow to navigate at times.
The money mode needs work.
Your phone may heet up when using the app.
Over all I'd give this a 9 out of 10. Hello Seeing AI, good bye KNFB reader.
For those that use Seeing AI, what were your first experiences like? Were they as good as mine? Were they better, worse? Tell us.
fastfinge 5 points 5y ago
My only worry about seeing AI is the lack of privacy. I still use KNFB on my mail, because I'm not comfortable with private things (tax info, government documents, bank statements, etc) being sent over the Internet to Microsoft. And the Seeing AI privacy statement does allow Microsoft employees to look at any of the images you take with it, for the purposes of improving the app.
bradley22 [OP] 0 points 5y ago
For me that doesn't mattter. They can look at my stuff as much as they want. I doubt they'll use it. plus most if not all the stuff I read is boxes and things like that. I don't use mail with seeing AI although if I do, it won't bother me at all if the microsoft team look at it.
Prefect316 4 points 5y ago
As a totally blind user I've still not fully gotten down how to take good enough pictures of things to have them scan properly. For instance, I usually lay my papers down on a table or desk and snap pics. Can someone try and explain to me, a totally blind person since birth who has no knowledge of photography whatsoever, how to best hold and orient a iPhone 8 for best results?
Thanks so much.
Thanks so much.
voidcraftedgaming 1 points 5y ago
Hm. I guess it’s hard to explain. I guess the major points are that you want your camera as parallel to the subject as possible, so the document shows as rectangular as possible. Flash is good for documents, as long as they are not glossy (feels smooth and plasticky). I’ll have a think in the morning and let you know, but feel absolutely free to PM me photography attempts and I’ll let you know what they look like (if you’re comfortable with that)
redstone1337 1 points 5y ago
You can get a scanning stand that will help you align documents with your phone correctly. One of them even has a light to improve the OCR. I think it's called the scan stand.
cookiemanluvsu 1 points 5y ago
I think it would be best to not have the paper/box laying flat on a table first of all. You as a person dont have the natural arch/movement to be able to take a picture that straight on. If you could get something sort of like a sheet music reading stand that would be much better. The way you hold the camera will be synced with the paper I feel much better this way. I wouldn't turn the camera like a portrait I would just keep it the regular way like when you text or receive phone calls. A table top version of the paper holder would be great to be honest. Also have the phone about 10-12 inches away from whatever youre trying to pick up. This is all I could come up with. Good luck though let us know what works best for you. Cheers.
bradley22 [OP] 1 points 5y ago
well, the nice thing about Seeing AI is that it takes the picture for you if it's a document. The best thing to do would be to hold the phone either in landscape or portrate after switching to the document mode, above the document and it should tell you something like, top and bottom edges are visible and then say hold still and it will take the picture. If it doesn't there's always the take picture button. I've been blind since birth and just mess around with heights until I get it right. Also there's the short text mode, that mode is amazing. It reads any text in front of it. There's also a hand writing mode I believe but I've not tried it out.
[deleted] 2 points 5y ago
Its not grate because they haven't released a android version yet.
bradley22 [OP] 2 points 5y ago
Ah, welll, hopefully they willl in the future.
Amonwilde 2 points 5y ago
I've been using it to play X-Com: Enemy Unknown. (Reading blocks of text.) And finally I don't have to pick a random sandwich at the local sandwich place, ha. Yeah, it's a good app.
AlexandrinaIsHere 2 points 5y ago
Oh wow. I'm fully sighted but lurk here because of fears of an upcoming surgery. I know if I get difficult post op instructions, like keep eyes shut for a long time or no reading for several days, that the regular threads here will give me ideas of what to do to keep entertained long enough to avoid screwing up.
I already play xcom, though badly. This might be easier to stomach than audio books since I've never found a narrator that doesn't irritate me by being too slow or something.
Given that ironman is bugged and can kill your save file, this might be the best replacement challenge. Give orders truly blind to the situation, no hints from which corner of the map has motion in the aliens turn.
This is a really cool idea.
I already play xcom, though badly. This might be easier to stomach than audio books since I've never found a narrator that doesn't irritate me by being too slow or something.
Given that ironman is bugged and can kill your save file, this might be the best replacement challenge. Give orders truly blind to the situation, no hints from which corner of the map has motion in the aliens turn.
This is a really cool idea.
Amonwilde 2 points 5y ago
I do think you need some sight to play it, unfortunately. My eyesight is really bad (20/800) but I do have some. Good luck with the surgery.
bradley22 [OP] 1 points 5y ago
Wow, that's awesome!
derrekjthompson 2 points 5y ago
The money mode is not good. LookTell Money Reader is much better.
[deleted] 1 points 5y ago
[deleted]
bradley22 [OP] 1 points 5y ago
I agree.
johndavid101 1 points 5y ago
The app Seeing AI appears awesome. I’ve tested it a bit on my iPhone and I’m going to put it on my blind friend’s new iPhone the next time I’m with her. She keeps Voiceover on for her iPhone. Do you guys use Seeing AI with voiceover on or off? With voiceover on it seemed impossible to select the different channels because it treated then as one group. And with voiceover off are you guys able to slide right to left to get to the other channels? It just seems to me that it would be very hard for a visually impaired person to change the channels from Text to document to surroundings etcetera. And if the app pauses on you do you find it difficult to press the play button to have it start reading again? Thanks for your time, I have already learned a lot from this subreddit.
bradley22 [OP] 1 points 5y ago
We'd mostly use voiceover here, apart from those who can see to use their phones. The way VoiceOver works is, flick left to go left, right to go right and double tap to click on an item. To get to the modes, swipe to the right until you hear something like mode equals short text mode and flick up with one finger and you'll move to document mode, then flick up again and you'll move to product mode et cetra.
[deleted] 1 points 5y ago
[removed]
AllHarlowsEve 1 points 5y ago
As with any app, I use common sense and don't scan anything I wouldn't be comfortable posting a video of, but it's definitely a great app.
I use it probably 50 times a day on Twitter, when people choose not to use alt text. I can just long press an image, hit recognize with seeingAI, and have the text off of it right away. And it's not garbled like so many other OCR apps.
I use it probably 50 times a day on Twitter, when people choose not to use alt text. I can just long press an image, hit recognize with seeingAI, and have the text off of it right away. And it's not garbled like so many other OCR apps.
redstone1337 1 points 5y ago
My only problem with it is that it's cloud-based. The cloud is just another word for "someone else's computer".
bradley22 [OP] 1 points 5y ago
I didn't know you can do that with seeing AI. Wow. I'm not someone who uses twitter but that's awesome.
homerq 1 points 5y ago
That's an interesting find. Thanks for sharing.
bradley22 [OP] 2 points 5y ago
Not a problem.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.