I remember the first time I used Seeing AI to help me in the airport. I had 45 minutes to get from my gate to my connecting flight. I knew I could have asked the airline for assistance, but previous experience has been quite frustrating. I often got stuck simply sitting and waiting for someone to guide me to my next gate. Often, they arrived with a wheelchair and I had to argue that it wasn't a good idea since I had concerns about the chair rolling on my guide dog's toes!
Instead, I had Seeing AI set to detect text, and I simply took off waving the phone around. Sure enough, it read me gate signs. When I heard gate 11 and then gate 10, I knew I was going the wrong way, since I needed gate 29. I turned around, told my dog "Forward," and we headed past gates 10, 11, 12, etc. Guess what! We did get to gate 29 only ten minutes later with 35 minutes to spare.
While this happened five years ago, my usage of these tools continues. I work on a 112-acre college campus. And right now, major portions are under construction. So walking a familiar route, I often encounter a fence blocking the path. Trying to find a new route to my destination, I often get lost. However, with the power of AI, I can do what the sighted do when they get lost. I can read signs and/or have the app describe the environment. For example, when the sign reads "Audio Visual Services," I know I'm at the back end of the library.
In preparation for the upcoming construction, I walked all over campus asking AI to read many many signs to me. Once I had to travel new routes, I knew what signs belong to which buildings and could improve on my mental map of the campus.
Many of us use our phones for navigation, in conjunction with apps like BlindSquare, Nearby Explorer, Google Maps and Apple Maps. These apps can help us know about intersections and addresses. AI, though, can ad a lot more information. Suppose you find yourself stranded in a large parking lot, attempting to locate a store. Or maybe you want to take a walk in the park, but worry about finding your way back to the picnic spot. Maybe you are in that store but all you are finding is piles of women's clothing when what you really need is some shampoo.
Remember first that sighted people get lost all the time. They forget where they parked their car. Stores are designed so that the shopper must wander around observing sales before they find what they were originally seeking. Now with apps like Seeing AI, the Be My Eyes "Be My AI" feature, The Aira Explorer "Access AI" or even the new Speakaboo, you too can see your surroundings.
There are also built-in tools with iOS 18, such as its Live Region Detection, which can offer you even more flexibility. You can point the phone to items in real time to get a description or have it detect text.
If you are new to all this, try working with these AI-enabled apps and iOS features first in familiar environments like your home, yard, neighborhood or workplace. Then branch out and explore the world. You will find at times, AI can describe even better than your sighted friends. And for you, the wider world will come alive.
Comments
Good god
5 years ago, she navigated an Airport using Seeing AI!
I have tried navigating a shopping mall using the same, and I can't imagin doing that on an airport. But again, I use a cane, and, people do crash in to me allot. Or may be I crash in to them, but I like to think the former.
The thing with Seeing AI is that I often don't know where to point the camera at, specially at airports, where the boards might not be those shiney bright shop signs. If it was like those bright shop signs, I would know to point camera at it.
And, in some of our airports, layout of the gates, it's not a strait line, it's some times U shaped, L shaped, T Shaped, and what not.
Now, if something like live recognition was there hands-free, and it gave me hints to adjust camera angles, then I might be successful at navigating airports like that. I would be damn scared of missing my flight though.
Great blog!
First, this was an enjoyable and inspirational read. Thank you for taking the time to write and post this. 😃
Second, navigating the world with a guide dog is so, so much easier than navigating with a cane. I have had to navigate airports both as a cane user, and as a guide dog user, and I will take the guide dog every single time, over the cane. The fact you're able to navigate an airport on your own, with just your guide dog and the Seeing AI app, is just beautiful.
Finally, I hope they add such services to devices such as Meta smart glasses. Oh how wonderful that would be. 🤔
Wheelchair and Short Text
Yes, I remember the wheelchair ordeal at airports...
I was reminded to look up something by the story, and I'm delighted to find that Seeing AI does not require a network connection for its Short Text function. In the back of my mind, I really, really worry about becoming dependent on AI that requires a network connection to function, especially when the network isn't working for what ever reason.
I also use the compass on the phone from time to time. Not that I'm completely sure that would work in all situations with no signal of any sort.
Very Nice
First, the disclaimer: I'm one who for reasons I shall not go into, does not have very good outdoor travel skills. I have been a cane user practically all my life, and have gotten quite good at that. I had some very good O&M training, but not recently. Now with that out of the way, here are my comments. I love this post. I started out using an iPhone 7, and became very comfortable using it. But I am now the proud owner of an iPhone 14, and yes some of these AI apps are on there. I have used them for various tasks with mixed results. I'd very much like to do more traveling one of these years, but based on my somewhat limited experience these apps are a joy to use and they're only getting better. The only problem is that I've had trouble knowing exactly where to point my phone so that these apps can more effectively do their job. But I think an iPhone stand might be in my future. Hint hint: possibly Christmas or my birthday? I'd really like that. Having said all this, I do very much enjoy my iPhone and hope to do more in the coming months. It's honestly a bit daunting to see all the things these apps alone can do. A few years ago I took a car ride with 2 sighted neighbors to a breakfast meeting, and used Soundscape to get an idea of the route which we were traveling. It was a great experience. At the time Microsoft still owned Soundscape and I don't think it was open-source yet. As for Live Recognition, it seems a bit confusing to me but I'm glad Apple included it in iOS 18.
Awesome
Hi Deborah and all,
That's such an awesome way to use SeeingAI, and it was five years ago too!
I've got a question for any of you who wish to answer: what happens if you're pointing your phone in different directions, and someone thinks you're trying to take a picture of them or something? Has this ever happened to anybody? I've never used SeeingAI or BeMyAI in a public place like this; I'm worried somebody might think I'm trying to take a picture of them or something. I wouldn't mind sitting at a table in a restaurant and reading the menu that way if I had to, but walking around a place waving my phone around doesn't seem like a great idea. That's why I really want a good AI to come to an affordable pair of smart glasses. I've heard of people waring a chest harness for their phone which doesn't sound very comfortable to me.
Possibly
Hi Tara,
Don't know for sure but I suspect the answer is stereo typing. How many sighted people think us blindies can take pictures? So they probably haven't a clue what we are doing as long as they see the White cane.
true
Hi Lee,
Good point. Maybe they just wonder what on earth we're doing with our phone. But I don't know, I'm still cautious of using my phone like that. I'd much rather a pair of smart glasses.