Identifying Products with Seeing AI for Apple

- [Vikki] In this workshop, we'll explore identifying a product. We'll be using one of the most popular apps for people with visual impairments on the market today. Seeing AI is an app that uses the camera on our phone to scan the product. We'd like to identify this app not only identifies a product, but also reads text, describes pictures and identifies currency. Best of all, seeing AI is completely free.

If you don't have it yet, head over to the app store on your phone, type in seeing ai, and it should come right up. You can also find a link to the app in the resources below this workshop. This series is designed for people with low vision using Apple devices. If you use Android, you'll be happy to know that. We also have a Seeing AI series that's made just for your phone. If you use your device with a screen reader, be sure and check out our series for using Seeing AI with VoiceOver on your iPhone or talk back on your Android phone. We're going to jump right in and find out how to identify a product using its barcode. But if you'd like to learn more about the layout of the app, be sure to check out the Exploring the App workshop. In this series There we take a deeper dive into the different parts of seeing ai. Now it's time to identify our product. We've got the Seeing AI app open on our iPhone. Let's tap the more tab near the bottom of our screen.

- [App AI] More.

- [Vikki] We're currently in the product channel and we hear a tone that tells us the app is searching for a barcode in case your phone is not in the product channel. Right now, it's a good idea to know how to change the channel. All we need to do is tap on the desired icon at the bottom of our screen

- [App AI] Product.

- [Vikki] The selected channel is highlighted in blue. It looks like five vertical bars, which represent a barcode. Now that we're in the product channel, we'll use the camera on our phone to take a picture of the barcode on our product. It's helpful to remember that the camera on our phone is usually located on the backside of our phone. In the right corner, we'll want to hold our camera in portrait mode, so the short side of the phone with the charging port is facing us.

Now, taking a photo of the barcode on a product can be quite challenging for those of us with low vision. To help with this, seeing AI guides us on how to position the phone over the barcode. It makes a tone to let us know when we're close to the barcode. Let's set our product on a flat surface, such as a table will hold the phone parallel to the product. The distance between the camera and the product depends on how large the product is. The larger it is, the farther away we'll want to position our phone. We then slowly move the phone closer to the product. We hear a tone that tells us a code is nearby. Wow, that's pretty amazing, isn't it? When the barcode or QR code is detected, seeing AI will say the name of the product

- [App AI] Processing method and back bathroom cleaner.

- [Vikki] If we want to hear more about the product such as the ingredients in the product or the directions for using it, we can tap the more info button in the bottom right corner of our screen. We then press the play button in the bottom right corner of our screen to have the information read aloud.

- [App AI] Method and Tube Experiment bathroom cleaner. Let's kill him with kind sense cleans and disinfects. Antibacterial kills 99.9% of household germs.

- [Vikki] When we press the play button to ask for more information, new controls appear. That allows us to rewind, play, pause, and fast forward through the information. But that's not all seeing AI can do. After scanning the product, we can ask AI a question about the item. We can also share the information with others. If you'd like to learn more, be sure to check out the resource section below this workshop.

I'm Vicki Vaughan and I thank you for joining me as we explored identifying a product with the Seeing AI app.