Anybody got tips for Point and Speak?

By Louise, 29 April, 2024

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

I was pretty excited to try Point and Speak on things like microwaves, or even a line of text on a paper. I just can't figure out how to do it. I point, but it just seems to read random stuff.
Is anyone successfully using this?

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Comments

By SeasonKing on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 - 21:41

So, it has option to read under or over or left/right of your finger. Figure out which one works for you.
I've also observed that it's very less useful if you are dealing with some kind of touch [panal. In the process of pointing, I end up touching the panal and activating randum options.

By Echobatix on Sunday, July 7, 2024 - 21:41

Apple's original announcement for the Point and Speak feature and the training video on YouTube show a camera that doesn't move. That is, the phone is clearly mounted in place rather than being held in the hand. I suspect this is one reason they don't call attention to the need to practice coordinating the left and right hands.

It takes some practice to coordinate the use of both hands. I'll describe that a bit more below, but first I should mention my background.

My company's beta app was named "Point and Speak" since early 2020, more than two years before Apple announced their feature of the same name and with similar functionality. I don't know quite what happened since they never contacted me. I would've been happy to discuss some kind of collaboration with them.

Currently my company's iOS app is named Echobatix. It's a subscription app with a one-week free trial. The app runs on a standard iPhone, and doesn't require the depth sensor. If you'd like, you can check out our training videos starting at the following web page: Echobatix training pages

Our training videos are shot in real-world scenarios, meaning the phone is held in one hand. We update our training videos as we release new features. If you're interested, I could provide the link to our training videos, including the first training video for the beta app in which I describe the many ways you can hold the phone.

First, keep your phone close to your body with the rear-facing camera pointed away from you. Hand detection works best when your hand is at nearly arm's length.

Second, the palm of your hand should be nearly parallel to the surface of the touch screen. That is, your hand and the back of your phone will also be nearly parallel to one another. This improves hand detection.

Third, try pointing your index finger. If you're not getting the results you expect, spread out your hand. The Echobatix app specifically detects your index finger, and sometimes it helps hand detection to have all fingers splayed out for the camera to see.

There is a solution for very sensitive touch screens, such as the kind that SeasonKing mentioned, but I haven't released that solution yet.