Microsoft releases Seeing AI app for visually impaired people in the UK and Australia

Earlier this year, Microsoft released a new app called Seeing AI that changes the lives of blind and low vision community. This app uses the power of AI to describe nearby people, text and objects. Blind and low vision community people can just hold up their phone and hear information about the world around them. Seeing AI app can also recognize and locate the faces of people they are with, as well as facial characteristics, approximate age, emotion, and more.

This app was available for people in the United States, Canada, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore.
Microsoft yesterday expanded the availability of this app to visually impaired people in the UK Ireland and Australia.

According to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), more than two million people in the UK live with sight loss, and almost half of blind and partially sighted people feel “moderately” or “completely” cut off from people and things around them.

Expanding the availability of this new app to more countries is a good thing, but Microsoft should release this app for Android devices. Less than 20% of smartphone users in Europe use an iOS device, which means Microsoft’s Seeing AI app won’t reach vast majority of the people who are in need.

You can download the app here from App Store.