A feature of Amazon’s Echo Show device can help make life a lot easier for the visually impaired.
The Echo Show is part of the Echo line of smart speakers that use Amazon’s voice-activated assistant Alexa.
The Show features a screen and a camera and can be used for making video calls and watching videos. But it can also put the device’s camera to work assisting the visually impaired.
The feature is called Show and Tell. Users can hold an item up to the device’s camera and ask, “Alexa, what am I holding.”
Alexa will then help identify the item using special artificial intelligence designed for the purpose.
According to Sarah Caplener, head of Amazon’s Alexa for Everyone team. “We heard that product identification can be a challenge and something customers wanted Alexa’s help with. Whether a customer is sorting through a bag of groceries, or trying to determine what item was left out on the counter, we want to make those moments simpler by helping identify these items and giving customers the information they need in that moment.”
To use the feature, just hold an item in front of the camera and ask, “Alexa, what am I holding?”
Alexa will talk you through positioning the product in the proper place.
You can click here to check out a video on how it works.
Click here to check out an Echo Show on Amazon.com.