Envision AI for Android

Envision AI Demo and Description (for Android)

While hunting for apps I stumbled over an app that I would like to show you today:
Envision AI. 

by Jutta Miroiu Dunker, 18 June 2019

The developers of Envision AI are Envision Technologies B.V. in Holland. The company is a young start-up, founded in 2017. In March this year, they successfully raised a €250,000 investment from the newly established tech and impact investment fund 4impact, and they are the Winner of the 2019 Google Play Awards in the category of Best Accessibility Experience.

The Envision AI app was first developed for Apple/iOS, and about middle of last year Envision Technologies also launched an Android version.

Since I am an Android user, I am just presenting the current Android version of the Envision AI app, but I will mention the difference – which, due to lack of an Apple iPhone, I have never looked at myself.

At the current state, the Android version, which runs on Android 5.0 and up, does not yet support all the features and functions of the iOS version, but it already has great features that struck me and that I would like to tell you more about, and which are:


  • Text Recognition
  • Handwriting Recognition
  • Document Reader
  • Scene Recognition
  • Barcode Reader
  • Face Recognition
  • … plus Zoom and Flashlight options-




Just a quick word about the User Interface. I like the "simple" layout. Easily accessible options in the upper menu bar, and on display of the "function blocks", also easily accessible and big buttons at the bottom of the screen.

All text features have multilingual support, i.e. the app can detect the language of the text automatically and can also read it in the appropriate language.

This, as well as most of the app's functions, works best with a good Internet connection, but text recognition also works offline.

OK, so let's get a bit closer:

I like the Document Reader It has normal functionality as we know it from others, but with automatic language detection. I have tried it with several language - English, French, German, Italian, Spanish - and it does a great job recognizing the language and reading it aloud

You can have the recognized text with or without voice, i.e., either just big letter display of the recognized text, which you can scroll through, or use the Read button to start/stop reading it out loud. And the Share button let us share, copy or save the recognized text.

The Handwriting Recognition impressed me. I tried at home, and If I'd had it before, it would have saved me a lot of headache and many notes I simply threw away because I could not figure out what was written there. As for text recognition, the handwriting recognition can automatically detect the language and display/read it to you.


The Instant Text Recognition - "in environment" – is one of my favorites. I use it, e.g., at home to read the info text on my TV or text on my computer monitor-

To demonstrate this,I prepared two "home-made" videos, but with rather poor smartphone quality.

But even outside it is of great help.
If you feel like watching some short videos in good quality, you cans see some "real life" examples I tried these days …


At the bus stop, turning around and seeing a "dog sign", ...

... or while shopping.



For those of you, you want to see more, I have uploaded them to Google Drive. 

For someone like me, who can barely see a face a couple of feet away from me, the Face Recognition could save me some embarrassment sometimes. I tried with only two persons so far, but it works. You take several photos of a person in different perspectives and Envision AI will use the info in its Scene Description function to identify the person. Are you up for another video on that? 

Well – my brother Ralf was well recognized. Just it was not a skateboard but his camera that he was holding.

Let's put it that way: The rest of the Scene Detection still leaves room for further development – but that is the same with other, similar applications.

So right now, you cannot always trust what you are told you'd see. Trying to have a "vegetable car" recognized did not really work.

The Barcode function did not recognize the products around me, but that's probably due to origin of the product and lack of appropriate look-up databases.

However, I heard from the developers, that they will also implement a QR Code Scanner in the future, which I think will be a very helpful feature.


Click the image to start the video

And don't let me forget another thing the company is currently working on and already have a prototype for testing in the Netherlands: The Envision AI Glasses – Smart glasses for the VIP.

Unfortunately, I could not get any further information but the developers own videos on the glasses. If you want, you can see it here on Google Drive.

OK, I promised an overview over the current differences between Envision AI for Android and for iOS. Let me just mention, that it requires iOS 10 or up.

Even though I did not check – as I said, I don't have an iPhone – according to the Tutorials the main differences, where the iOS version offers more, are:

In Zoom - you can use pinch and zoom on the screen.

And there is also an option to invert colors to read texts with higher contrast.

Besides that, in Read Document, you have the options to adjust the font size tapping the font button and read multiple pages at once by long pressing the ‘Read Documents’ button.

With the iOS version, you can even Detect Colors by pointing the camera at the object or clothing you wish to recognize the color of – it offers 30 (standard) or up to 950 colors.

A great thing in the iOS version: In addition to teaching faces, you can also Teach Objects to be recognized.

And not to forget the most advanced - the: Search & Find function, that will recognize general objects or even people and objects it was taught around you in real time and speak out loud what or who is in the camera frame.

Wow – that sounds promising…. I hope to see all that in the Android version soon…



OK, last but not least, we have to talk about prices.


Let's start with the easy one – I have no price information on the Glasses yet.

As for the Envision AI app for Android, they offer either a

- Monthly subscription for € 5, or a
- Yearly subscription for € 40, or a
- Lifetime subscription for € 230

They should be similar for the iOS version.

In any case, you will have a 14-days trial with no strings attached, before you have to decide for a subscription type.

Besides that, the developers are willing to negotiate on group purchases, which could be arranged directly through any of you or your organizations.

You can contact Envision Technologies as follows:

Envision Technologies B.V. 
Wilhelmina van Pruisenweg 104,
2595 AN, The Hague,
The Netherlands


karthik@letsenvision.com

+31 6 51670827

https://www.letsenvision.com/

Jutta Miroiu-Dunker