Main image via The Verge
Even before the dawn of the smartphone, mobile phone manufacturers have figured out a way to attach a lens and an image processor to the device you use to make phone calls and send text messages. While handy however, the images it produces can hardly be called… pleasant.
Today, image capturing technology has advanced to a point that it allows you to capture stunning images good enough to document your travels, impress your friends, and elevate you to Instagram model status.
Your smartphone’s camera has come such a long way that some believe it may be the MOST important part of your smartphone now. Here’s why…
It will replace typing and completely change the way we search things
Image via Highsnobiety
See a restaurant you want to know more about? Forget typing, in the future, just point your camera towards the restaurant or signboard and your phone will automatically provide you with a list of information.
Something broken that needs fixing in your house? Simply point your camera towards that leaking sink or broken toilet bowl and you’ll be presented with a DIY tutorial or a list of plumbers near your location.
It enables quick, easy, and fool-proof way of doing things
Image via Freemake
QR codes are not exactly ‘new’, but as the importance of the camera on your smartphone grows, so does the practicality of QR codes. In fact, Spotify, Pinterest, Venmo, Snapchat, and Facebook Messenger all have their own versions of the feature.
QR codes allow for a quick, easy, and fool-proof way of providing website links, information, and linking a mobile app to other devices (think WhatsApp web).
It helps people ‘see’
Image via China Daily
The app is called Seeing AI, and it is being developed by Microsoft. Its purpose? To help the visually impaired ‘see’ the world around them by narrating what the camera is pointing at.
Google is developing a similar app called Lens that can recognise text, household objects, and landmarks.