iPhone App VizWiz Helps Visually Impaired

There is now an application for iPhone users called VizWiz that will help blind people with choice or endeavors that they have to make on a daily basis. Although this app does not exactly allow users to see, it does help them get information which is otherwise unavailable to them unless someone is with them all the time, now apparently, the ‘someone’ that can be there all the time is VizWiz. The free application allows users to take a picture using a voice instruction and notification sounds of things which they cannot be sure off.

After taking the picture they can record a message stating what they need from that picture. For example if a user takes a picture of a bus schedule and records the message, “What time is the No 52 bus scheduled to reach?” the application will use a blend of web workers and crowd sourcing initiatives that will generate answers with seconds or a minute at worst. This goes to say that information for the blind will now be even easier to obtain as long as a picture of it can be taken. This initiative by VizWiz would mean that the visually impaired can actually be less dependent on others. For a glimpse into what VizWiz is capable of doing, do watch the video embedded above.