Technology can greatly help blind people find their way in such a complex and, at times, even dangerous world. Facebook it is taking many steps forward to bring those who cannot see closer to technology, and from today it seems that it will also be able to "tell" the photos.
The new service is launched today to guide those who can't see all the photographs that social media are flooded with. The system works using artificial intelligence: in short, Facebook's servers are now able to decode and describe the images uploaded to the site, making them available in a form that can be read by screen readers, i.e. the software used by the blind to access online content.
Screen readers have never, at least until now, been able to read images. To inspire the Facebook system was Math king, a Facebook engineer who lost his sight following retinitis pigmentosa. The option starts today on iOS and will soon be available for Android. On the iPhone, the already inserted screen reader, VoiceOver, must be activated to allow the photographs to be read. An example of reading: “in the photo there are two people who are smiling”. Of course, a not too detailed description, but still a step forward in the accessibility of social networks.
