Artificial intelligence: Danish startup Be My Eyes is developing an app based on the Open AI model that acts as a virtual assistant for people with blindness. Be My Eyes has a mission: to help blind people explore the world around them using smartphone technology. Created in 2015, the app developed by the Danish startup of the same name connects blind users with a network of sighted volunteers who, through a video call, 'lend' their eyes to observe and describe what they see through the device's camera. In the not-too-distant future, however, volunteers may no longer be needed. Be My Eyes is developing a beta version of the application that relies on a virtual assistant based on GPT-4, the latest version of Open AI's artificial intelligence model.

Microsoft debuted a slew of new AI technologies at their annual Ignite conference. One of the most interesting is an AI system called "PeopleLens." PeopleLens is a platform that uses computer vision algorithms to help blind people engage with their social surroundings. The system is designed to identify and interpret objects in the user's environment and relay those details back to the user in a way that they can understand. This opens a world of possibilities for blind people, who until now have been largely cut off from social interaction. With PeopleLens, they can now participate in conversations, navigate their surroundings, and generally experience the world in a way that was once impossible.

Literally, you can hold up your phone and it'll tell you what it sees. But one promise of the future, computers that can help blind people see, is starting to arrive. The latest example is Microsoft's Seeing AI, a free iPhone app released Wednesday that "narrates the world around you." Point it at a park, and it'll tell you what the scene looks like. Point it at a person, and it'll tell you if they're smiling. Point it at a dollar bill, and it'll tell you how much.

I grew up with a blind grandmother, who lost her vision to glaucoma. The medicine of the 1930's and 1940's, unfortunately, couldn't prevent that fate. So from a very early age I was acquainted with someone with a serious disability. By the time I was three years old, I was part of the caretaker crew, often leading her around the house as we navigated various obstacles. One time, my aunt blindfolded me and made me walk around the house, so that I might better understand my grandmother's life.

Facebook has launched a new automatic text feature which uses machine learning technology to identify objects in photographs. Users of Facebook who are blind or visually impaired can now benefit from the technology when using the social networking site. The artificial intelligence system uses image recognition technology to caption photographs with keywords to improve the accessibility of the site for disabled users. Writing on the'Research at Facebook' Blog, software engineer Shaomei Wu said: "While visual content provides a fun and expressive way for people to communicate online, it also creates challenges for people with low vision or blindness. The challenges arise in both creating and consuming visual content. As a result, some people can feel isolated and frustrated when they can not fully participate in the interaction around visual content. "To achieve our mission of making the world more open and connected, we have to connect people of all backgrounds and abilities.

Facebook is using an artificial intelligence system to automatically caption photos in an effort to increase the accessibility of its website and apps. The feature, called "automatic alternative text", uses image recognition technology developed through machine-learning to identify the objects pictured. It's not perfect yet, with sample captions from Facebook, shared by The Verge, reading more like a laundry list than a descriptive overview: "Image may contain: two people, smiling, sunglasses, sky, outdoor, water" reads the caption on one picture of a couple taking a photograph on a beach, while "image may contain: pizza, food" is the caption for a picture of a tasty-looking pepperoni and olive pizza. Related: AI is already making inroads into journalism but could it win a Pulitzer? But the technology, which is launching first on iOS, will do a great deal towards making the Facebook app more usable for blind and visually impaired visitors.

Many of us may bemoan the constant photos of babies, food or sunsets on Facebook, but blind users don't have that luxury. Until now, visually impaired people on the site could only use audio descriptions to explain they were'looking' at a photo, without any other details. Now, Facebook has started using artificial intelligence and image recognition to reveal what is shown in these photos. Until now, visually impaired people on Facebook could only use audio descriptions to explain they were'looking' at a photo, without any other details. Now, Facebook has started using artificial intelligence and image recognition to reveal what is shown in these photos (examples pictured).

Facebook on Monday began using artificial intelligence to help people with visual impairments enjoy photos posted at the leading social network. Facebook introduced machine learning technology trained to recognize objects in pictures and then describe photos aloud. "As Facebook becomes an increasingly visual experience, we hope our new automatic alternative text technology will help the blind community experience Facebook the same way others enjoy it," said accessibility specialist Matt King. The feature was being tested on mobile devices powered by Apple iOS software and which have screen readers set to English. Facebook planned to expand the capability to devices with other kinds of operating systems and add more languages, according to King, who lost his vision as a US college student studying electrical engineering.