From electric wheelchairs to hearing aids, assistive technology is key to enhancing the social participation of persons with disabilities. As image recognition technology continues to advance, mobile devices have the potential to help users with visual impairments overcome barriers in daily life.
Samsung has developed accessibility features to empower individuals with vision disabilities for Galaxy devices. The idea behind Bixby Vision is a simple one. It’s designed to give people the ability to gain more information about their surroundings by using a smartphone’s camera. The new accessibility features, namely Quick Reader, Scene Describer, and Color Detector, build on this capability to help users with vision disabilities navigate the world and enjoy more enriching experiences.
Understanding labels and signs is a daily challenge for users with vision disabilities. By reading out written text in real-time, Quick Reader helps these users gain a better understanding of textual information in daily life.
The feature can also recognize over 1,000 common objects and items. From identifying food and vegetables in the kitchen to locating cleaning products, it can help users carry out daily routines with ease.
Scene Describer provides descriptions of any images, including captured scenes and downloaded pictures. This could help users identify potential obstacles when they are navigating their surroundings.
While it’s possible for people with vision disabilities to identify the materials and design of their clothes by touch, it’s difficult to do the same when it comes to distinguishing between different colors. The Color Detector provides a way to address this. With a simple camera scan, the feature can inform users of the color of the item in the frame.
“Before these features came to Bixby Vision, I had trouble picking my work clothes and identifying objects in the office alone,” says Kwangman Moon, a Galaxy user with a vision disability. “Now, I don’t need to give up on these simple tasks just because I can’t see.”
“One of the problems we faced when testing the features with visually impaired users is that their way of experiencing the world is different from ours,” says Mikael Fodor, UX researcher at Samsung Research United Kingdom. “Being able to observe how the features work in the hands of our users and in real life situations allows us to understand problems and make improvements scientifically.”
For users who collaborate with Samsung engineers, being able to improve accessibility features and help others in similar situations overcome challenges is an empowering process.
