Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Google Lookout: App reads grocery labels for blind people

Google Lookout: App reads grocery labels for blind people

Google's AI can now identify food in the supermarket, in a move designed to help the visually impaired.

It is part of Google's Lookout app, which aims to help those with low or no vision identify things around them.

A new update has added the ability for a computer voice to say aloud what food it thinks a person is holding based on its visual appearance.

One UK blindness charity welcomed the move, saying it could help boost blind people's independence.

Google says the feature will "be able to distinguish between a can of corn and a can of green beans".

Eye-catching, not easy


Many apps, such as calorie trackers, have long used product barcodes to identify what you're eating. Google says Lookout is also using image recognition to identify the product from its packaging.

The app, for Android phones, has some two million "popular products" in a database it stores on the phone - and this catalogue changes depending on where the user is in the world, a post on Google's AI blog said.

In a kitchen cupboard test by a BBC reporter, the app had no difficulty in recognising a popular brand of American hot sauce, or another similar product from Thailand. It could also correctly read spices, jars and tins from British supermarkets - as well as imported Australian favourite Vegemite.

But it fared less well on fresh produce or containers with irregular shapes, such as onions, potatoes, tubes of tomato paste and bags of flour.

If it had trouble, the app's voice asked the user to twist the package to another angle - but still failed on several items.

The UK's Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) gave a cautious welcome to the new feature.

"Food labels can be challenging for anyone with a visual impairment, as they are often designed to be eye-catching rather than easy to read," said Robin Spinks from the charity.

"Ideally, we would like to see accessibility built into the design process for labels so that they are easier to navigate for partially sighted people."

But along with other similar apps - such as Be My Eyes and NaviLens, which are also available on iPhones - it "can help boost independence for people with sight loss by identifying products quickly and easily".


Be My Eyes: How smartphones became ‘eyes’ for blind people



Lookout uses similar technology to Google Lens, the app that can identify what a smartphone camera is looking at and show the user more information. It already had a mode that would read any text it was pointed at, and an "explore mode" that identifies objects and text.

Launching the app last year, Google recommended placing a smartphone in a front shirt pocket or on a lanyard around the neck so the camera could identify things directly in front of it.

Another new function added in the update is a scan document feature, which takes a photo of letters and other documents and sends it to a screen reader to be read aloud.

Google also says it has made improvements to the app based on feedback from visually impaired users.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×