Technology

Posted on May 18, 2017 by staff

Google Lens will turn your camera into a search engine

Technology

Google has unveiled a new smart technology capable of revealing details of an object you are pointing your camera at.

Google Lens was demonstrated by CEO Sundar Pichai at its annual I/O developer conference.

He showed how the artificial intelligence-led tech could recognise a specific flower and provide information about it before Google Assistant kicked in with follow-up actions such as suggesting a nearby florist.

Among other examples of how the camera tech may be used, it can connect a device automatically to a Wi-Fi router or reveal the opening hours and menu of a restaurant.

“We are clearly at an inflection point with vision, so we’re announcing a new initiative called Google Lens,” Pichai said.

“In an AI-first world we are rethinking all our products.

“The fact that computers understand videos and images has profound implications for our core mission.”

The image-recognition tech is coming soon to Android devices and effectively allows you to use your camera to perform a Google search.