Microsoft’s Seeing AI app can now identify Indian currency

Microsoft's Artificial Intelligence-based app for the blind and those with low vision has been upgraded to identify Indian currency.

After British pounds, Canadian dollars, euros and US dollars, Seeing AI can now be used to identify the denomination of Indian rupee notes. It is currently available only for iOS users, and the new feature can be procured as an update on the App Store.

The app has a simple UI with the currency feature located at the end of the tab. Just tap on the feature and the voice assistant will speak out 'Currency'. You can then use the camera of your phone to identify the currency note.

We tried using the app with a bunch of currency notes, both old and new. The app quickly identified the denomination and read it out. It, however, could not identify old currency notes -- which could mean that it is programmed better for newer and fresher notes. The app isn't designed to identify coins either.

The Seeing AI app was launched last July, and it has so far completed over 5 million tasks for 30,000 monthly active users, Microsoft said. The app, designed for users with vision impairment, uses computer vision in addition to AI for detecting objects in real-time. The app can also identify short text, documents, products with bar codes, people, scenes, colours, handwriting and light.

Seeing AI also comes with YouTube tutorials for each category. While the app can be pretty handy in recognising one's environment, the results may not always be accurate. Microsoft says the app shouldn't be used for navigation or in accident-prone situations. It is also not advanced enough to be used for medical purposes.