App: Seeing AI
video review
intro
Seeing AI describes itself “as a free app that narrates the world around you. Designed with and for the blind and low vision community, this ongoing research project harnesses the power of AI to open up the visual world. Seeing AI assists with daily tasks from reading, to describing photos, to identifying products, and more.”
review by Hannah H
How long I’ve been using this product: 1+ year
How often I use this product: A couple times a week
My gut feeling: I love this app, because it helps me read labels on beauty products and food packages, without having to worry about a sighted person helping me read them.
Why this product? Seeing AI is like another set of eyes; it sees for me. When I was at a training center in Massachusetts, I put Seeing AI in document mode to read directions on how to make fries and onion rings. I also used it to make cakes, brownies, and frozen dinners, and to read documents like receipts, vaccine cards, and cards from family members. I’m a really curious person; I like to read the things around me. So I put Seeing AI in product mode to read labels on beauty products like hand lotion, hair masks, shampoo, conditioner, and face mists. To read labels, Seeing AI will take a picture first. Then, you can scroll through the app to get to the more info button. Once you press that button, Seeing AI will list the ingredients in that product, (if applicable), how to use it, and any safety warnings. Not only can you scan documents and anything with a label on it. You can also take pictures yourself, and Seeing AI will give you an AI-GENERATED description of someone’s age, gender, and facial expression. For example, it told me that I was a 23-year-old woman with brown hair looking happy.
Pros: Seeing AI reads packing slips, receipts, letters, and anything made of paper. It reads labels on beauty products, packaged foods, or anything with a bar code.
Cons: The color identifier is not very accurate. For example, if you only want to know what color your shirt is, Seeing AI won’t tell you that. Instead, the app will get confused, and pick up the colors of multiple things around you, like a chair or a bag. The phone has to be at a certain angle in order to read a document. You can only get Seeing AI on the Apps Store, which means that you won’t be able to find it on Android devices like cell phones, tablets, or Chromebooks (as of March 2024).
I think Seeing AI is good for people who are blind or losing their vision. If you want to read an important document, and you don’t want someone to help you, you can always use this app. The only problem is that if you’re reading a document, you have to hold the camera at a certain angle over the paper to capture all of the edges, including the top, bottom, and sides. And the app doesn’t always let you know if a certain portion of the document is out of the camera’s view.
review update
I am no longer interested in using Seeing AI. This is due to the fact that many updates have been made to the app, so much so that it has been rendered unusable.
First of all, the app has now been equipped with three separate tabs, each of which serve different functions. For example, the “Read” tab is supposed to read printed documents and pages, while the “Documents” tab reads labels. Finally, the “Describe” tab is self-explanatory: its job is to describe anything you take a picture of, whether that be a wall, a piece of carpet, a product label, or even a person.
This is where I encounter problems. If I take a picture of myself, the description will take too long to generate. In fact, it won’t even generate at all. Then, the app will crash, and I’ll get kicked out and redirected to the home screen. This is very frustrating because I used to rely on Seeing AI to read documents and product labels. I understand that the updates were installed with the intention of making the app more accessible. However, it is more complicated than ever now, and I encounter system glitches all the time.
I will never use this app in the future unless the developer updates it back to its original version. Finally, I would never recommend it to a friend because if I can’t rely on it now, then why would anyone else?
pictures
notes, hacks and tips
More info on the Seeing AI Website.
Our reviewer, Hannah, finds that Seeing AI is better for reading documents and the app Be My Eyes is better for describing the world around you – from products and places to food and images.
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