[NJTechDiv] Echo now helps describe grocery items

[Mario Brusco]

Amazon’s Echo can now help describe grocery items to the visually impaired
https://siliconangle.com/2019/09/23/amazons-echo-can-now-help-describe-grocery-items-visually-impaired/

by James Farrell

Amazon.com’s virtual assistant just got more intelligent after the 
company revealed Monday that the visually impaired can now ask it what 
they are holding.
https://blog.aboutamazon.com/devices/alexa-what-am-i-holding

The new feature, called “Show and Tell,” enables customers who are blind 
or people with low vision to hold an item in front of first- and 
second-generation Echo Show devices and ask, “Alexa, what am I holding?” 
or “Alexa, what’s in my hand?” The object will then be identified using 
Amazon’s machine learning technology.

That could be especially helpful for grocery items such as tins and 
boxes that might be hard to identify properly. As Amazon demonstrated in 
a video, a blind person asked Alexa what she’s holding and Alexa 
replied, “It looks like tea.”

“The whole idea for Show and Tell came about from feedback from blind 
and low vision customers,” said Sarah Caplener, who leads Amazon’s Alexa 
for Everyone team. “We heard that product identification can be a 
challenge and something customers wanted Alexa’s help with. Whether a 
customer is sorting through
a bag of groceries, or trying to determine what item was left out on the 
counter, we want to make those moments simpler by helping identify these 
items and giving customers the information they need in that moment.”

Partnering with California-based Vista Center for the Blind and Visually 
Impaired, Amazon worked with visually impaired people to understand the 
problems they have at home and how Alexa could help.

One volunteer who is completely blind called the technology 
“revolutionary,” saying with such devices acting as his eyes, he is much 
more independent.
He said he likes to cook, but without the help of a personal assistant, 
it’s impossible to know what spice he is holding. In another example, 
Alexa identifies for him a box of macaroni and cheese.

“It’s essential to work with our customers, not just for them, to create 
something that’s truly helpful,” said Caplener.

The downside: The feature is available at the moment only in the U.S. 
Amazon didn’t say when it will roll out to other countries. To use the 
feature, customers just have to hold a product in front of the Echo Show 
and ask the magic question.
https://youtu.be/iiIrazXKk9M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiIrazXKk9M&feature=youtu.be