At its I/O 2017 developer conference, Google announced a fleet of products and services. One particular piece of technology is called Google Lens. Here we take a look at this feature.
What is Google Lens
Google Lens is again powered by AI. It combines the information from the camera feed with its deep machine learning to detect what it on the screen. It also pulls information from the web about the object and offers actions based on what it understands. For some of you, this might seem very familiar to Google’s previous project; the Google Goggles. Google Lens is basically a super powered version of that failed project.
Example of Google Lens
For an example, you can point your phone screen at a bottle of wine, ask Google Assistant what the object on the screen is. It will then give you the answer and details like how old the wine and suggest nearby places you can buy it from. Another example is that you can use the feature to capture a picture of the SSID sticker of your router. The phone will then automatically connect to the WiFi network. Quite handy eh? It can also understand restaurants when pointed at them and will bring up information like reviews and opening times.
What are the apps that Google Lens will work with
At launch, it will work with Google apps like Google Assistant and Google Photos. Other Google apps will be updated later. Inside Google Assistant, users will be able to tap the Google Lens icon, point their smartphone camera at show times outside a cinema. Users will then be presented with a number of suggestions in the view finder. These include a website to buy the tickets etc. Within Google Photos, Google Lens will be able to identify buildings or landmarks. It can also present users with directions and opening hours for them.
