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Would an app scanning and reading documents out be useful? (self.Blind)
submitted by Aulig
I know apps like this exist already, but the main difference would be that itd give directions on whether to move the phone further away or closer to capture the whole document and itd automatically rotate the image so the text recognition works well. Because those are things i saw other apps dont/cant do. Its for a university project and I just wanted to make sure we create something that is actually useful and that doesnt exist yet (or doesnt work very well yet). Of course Im open to any suggestions!
stormsong19 3 points 4y ago
Both seeing ai and knfb reader do this to some degree already, I believe.
pokersnek 2 points 4y ago
Check out Seeing AI (the letters a and i). It was developed by Microsoft and does some amazing things with text scanning and optical character recognition. It is a free app.
flameborn 1 points 4y ago
While there are applications that do this already, there are a few things I have to mention that could influence the development of this app:
1. The price. This is, especially in low-income countries, a quite important factor when deciding to use an app. KNFB Reader could be more widely available having a lower price tag. Of course, licensing fees for the FineReader engine are quite pricy, too, so in a way, I understand why the high prices.
2. Offline recognition. Seeing AI can recognize documents and guide the user for an optimum document capture, however, the recognition happens online, via neural net. If the app could do accurate offline recognition, this would be immensely useful, especially for sensitive documents.
Prizmo is also a nice choice, however, I don't think it has a guide feature.
I think there is definitely a need for this.
1. The price. This is, especially in low-income countries, a quite important factor when deciding to use an app. KNFB Reader could be more widely available having a lower price tag. Of course, licensing fees for the FineReader engine are quite pricy, too, so in a way, I understand why the high prices.
2. Offline recognition. Seeing AI can recognize documents and guide the user for an optimum document capture, however, the recognition happens online, via neural net. If the app could do accurate offline recognition, this would be immensely useful, especially for sensitive documents.
Prizmo is also a nice choice, however, I don't think it has a guide feature.
I think there is definitely a need for this.
quanin 1 points 4y ago
> Offline recognition. Seeing AI can recognize documents and guide the user for an optimum document capture, however, the recognition happens online, via neural net. If the app could do accurate offline recognition, this would be immensely useful, especially for sensitive documents.
Agreed, albeit with a catch. Seeing AI performs the recognition online because it's easier/cheaper. It could very well be made to run offline as well, but probably wouldn't be as effective and would most definitely kill your device of choice. The reason it performs the recognition online is also because it's supposed to be self-improving. In theory, your usage of the software on a document it doesn't quite get right makes it more likely the next person who does it will have a better chance. Now, I don't know how actually effective that is, but I do know you won't get the same functionality offline. You certainly won't get the same functionality with the same power demands offline.
Agreed, albeit with a catch. Seeing AI performs the recognition online because it's easier/cheaper. It could very well be made to run offline as well, but probably wouldn't be as effective and would most definitely kill your device of choice. The reason it performs the recognition online is also because it's supposed to be self-improving. In theory, your usage of the software on a document it doesn't quite get right makes it more likely the next person who does it will have a better chance. Now, I don't know how actually effective that is, but I do know you won't get the same functionality offline. You certainly won't get the same functionality with the same power demands offline.
Arinvar 1 points 4y ago
Yeh there's a few apps that already do this. Can't vouch for their effectiveness but I do know the good ones are quite expensive. If you can match their functionality at a lower price you could find a niche. I've never used them before though so can't comment much more than that.
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