computer science

Seeing AI

Seeing AI is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Seeing AI rather than just read about it. In short: Seeing AI is an artificial intelligence application developed by Microsoft for iOS. Seeing AI uses the device camera to identify people and objects, and then the app audibly describes those objects for visually impaired people.

Key takeaways

Seeing AI belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Seeing AI to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Seeing AI from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Seeing AI is an artificial intelligence application developed by Microsoft for iOS. Seeing AI uses the device camera to identify people and objects, and then the app audibly describes those objects for visually impaired people.

Capabilities Seeing AI is primarily used to describe short text, documents, products, people, currency scenery, colors, handwriting and light. The app can scan a barcode to describe a product and uses sounds to assist the user in focusing on the barcode. When the app describes people, it attempts to estimate the person's age, gender, and emotional status. Additionally, in a test run by German journalists in December 2019, Seeing AI apparently used some sort of facial recognition system to identify people on photographs by name. Some functions are performed on the device, however more complex functions such as describing a scene or recognizing handwriting require an Internet connection. In December 2017, Seeing AI introduced the ability for currency recognition for US and Canadian dollar, British pounds and Euros. In December 2019, Seeing AI added support for five more languages, Dutch, French, German, Japanese, Spanish. Seeing AI is available in 70 countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Egypt, Albania, Bhutan, etc. Supported on iPhone 5C, 5S and later best performance with iPhone 6S, SE and later models

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Seeing AI

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Seeing AI claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Seeing AI before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Seeing AI ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Seeing AI

In research: Seeing AI appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Seeing AI in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Seeing AI is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics AI software, IOS software, Microsoft software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Seeing AI outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Seeing AI in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Seeing AI means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Seeing AI out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Seeing AI in simple terms?

Why does Seeing AI matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Seeing AI?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Seeing AI.