25-Mar-19 | News

Lookout: an app to help blind and visually impaired people learn about their surroundings

There are over 253 million blind or visually impaired people in the world. To make the world more accessible to them, we need to build tools that can work with the ever-changing environment around us.  Android app Lookout, helps people who are blind or visually impaired become more independent by giving auditory cues as they encounter objects, text and people around them.

It is recommended to wear your Pixel device in a lanyard around your neck, or in your shirt pocket, with the camera pointing away from your body. After opening the app, and selecting a mode, Lookout processes items of importance in your environment and shares information it believes to be relevant—text from a recipe book, or the location of a bathroom, an exit sign, a chair or a person nearby. Lookout delivers spoken notifications, designed to be used with minimal interaction allowing people to stay engaged with their activity.