VOA:Google`s Lookout App Helps Blind People Experience the World

谷歌推出`Lookout` 应用帮助盲人看世界

Google has launched a new app desgined to help blind people explore their surroundings.

谷歌推出了一款新应用,旨在帮助盲人探索周围环境.

The free app,called Lookout,is currently available to users in the United States who own a Google Pixel device. The company says it hopes to bring Lookout to more devices and additional countries soon.

这款名为Lookout的免费应用,目前在美国拥有Google Pixel设备的用户都可以使用.谷歌公司表示,希望尽快让更多设备和国家可以使用Lookout应用.

The app was first announced at Google’s I/O developer conference in May 2018. Since then,the company says it has been testing and working to improve te quality of its results.

该应用程序于2018年5月在谷歌的I/O开发者大会上首次发布.自那以后,该公司表示一直进行测试,并努力提高其结果质量.

The app uses technology similar to Google Lens. That produt uses machine learning to recognize text and objects through device’s camera. Users can then receive information about or take actions related to the text and recognized objects.

该应用程序所使用的技术与Google Lens类似,Google Lens通过设备上的相机利用机器学习技术来识别文本和物体,然后,用户可以通过接收有关文本和可识别物体的信息继而采取相应的行动.

Lookout builds on this same technology,but aims to provide assistance to people who are blind or have low vision.

Lookout基于同样的技术,但这款应用旨在为盲人或视力低下的人提供帮助.

The app users a devices’s camera to recognize text and objects and then provide voice descriptions about what is sees.

该应用程序使用设备的摄像头来识别文本和物体,然后提供对所见内容的语音描述.

Lookout is not designed to describe everything,but instead seeks to search out things that people would most likely care about. The app can learn to judge what things are most important to a person over time.

Lookout应用程序并不会对所有事务进行描述,而是寻找人们最关心的事情.随着时间的推移,这个应用程序可以学会判断什么是对用户来说是最重要的事情.

Google says the app operates best when the wears a device around the neck or inside a pocket,with the camera lens pointed outward.

谷歌表示,当用户将设备戴在脖子上或放入口袋里,摄像头朝外时,应用程序运行效果最好.

Lookout was thress main settings for people to use.

Lookout应用有三种主要模式可供人们使用.

The Explore setting is designed to provide assistance for people carrying out daily activities or for identifying things in new place. A Shopping setting can capture products and help users identify their money. The Quick Read setting can help users go through their email,read signs or identify other printed materials.

探索模式旨在为人们进行日常活动或识别新地方的事物提供帮助,购物模式可以捕获产品并帮助用户识别产品价格.快速阅读模式可以帮助用户浏览邮件,读取指示牌或识别其他印刷材料.

User can control parts of the app through a fingeprint sensor. For example,the sensor can be used to change operating settings or go through recent result captured by the camera. The app has three different detail levels that can be activated to provide more or less information about objects.

用户可以通过指纹传感器控制应用程序的部分功能.例如,传感器可以用来改变操作模式或查看相机最近拍到的结果.这款应用提供三种不同的信息详细程序,激活后可以提供物体或多或少的信息.

There are other apps and devices designed to assist these people,too.

还有其他的应用和设备为这些人提供帮助.

Microsoft’s free Seeing AI app works similary to Google Lookout. Microsoft calls its system——launched for iPhone users in 2017 -a “talking camera for the blind.”,Seeing AI can recognize text,objects and people and speaks results to users.

微软的免费Seeing AI应用程序的工作原理与谷歌的Lookout应用乐类似.微软称其于2017年为iPhone用户推出的系统为: “盲人的语音相机”.Seeing AI可以识别文本,物体和人,并向用户播报结果.

Microsoft says the system can provide audio sounds that relate to current light levels around the user. A recently released version also reportedly lets uers put their fingers over a photo of something to get a sense of how the object feels. The app produces smail vibrations sounds to help this process.