GoKawiilAhead of Google’s annual developer conference on Tuesday, Apple announced several new accessibility updates powered by Apple Intelligence to features like VoiceOver, voice control, live recognition, and real-time caption generation for videos. The company also said that Vision Pro users will be able to control a compatible wheelchair with their eyes using this update.
The company said that Apple Intelligence’s image recognition feature in VoiceOver will understand the image better and describe it in greater detail. For instance, it can look at a bill and read out the details such as the amount and due date. Apple said that the updated feature can also better describe photographs and personal records.
Image Credits: Apple Image Credits:Apple
Users can now use an iPhone to activate the Live Recognition feature, which uses a camera to identify content in the frame, and also ask follow-up questions to know more. Users with low vision can also assign Magnifier to the action button, which presents content on a high-contrast interface. Plus, they can use voice commands such as “zoom in” or “turn on flashlight” to access features.
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The voice command update is not limited to the Magnifier app. Apple said that users can describe tasks in natural language to take action on what they see on the screen. For instance, in Apple Maps, they can say “tap the guide about best restaurants,” or in Files, they can say “tap the purple folder.”
The company is also updating Reader, which can now handle documents like scientific papers with multiple columns, images, and tables.
Image Credits: Apple Image Credits:Apple
Users can get AI-powered summaries or read the text in the native language with custom fonts and colors retained. The company added that the updated reader can cater to different disabilities such as dyslexia and low vision.
What’s more, Apple is adding AI-generated subtitles for videos that don’t have pre-generated captions. This includes videos recorded on an iPhone or clips received from friends or family. These generated subtitles will work across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro, and users can control their appearance.
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