Google Assistant is a virtual personal Assistant developed by Google.
Google Assistant can now analyze the world around you with the help of your smartphone camera. Using a technology the company calls Google Lens, the Assistant will analyze your surroundings and display relevant content on your screen. You’ll see a restaurant’s rating when pointing your phone at the storefront, you can aim it at a flower and it will identify the species, and you can even pull up a band’s music or videos by pointing Lens at a concert poster. But the most useful example might be this: if you point Lens at Wi-Fi login credentials, your Android phone will be able to use that info to log on to that network.
Google’s not the first company to try to add artificial intelligence to a smartphone’s camera. Samsung recently launched “Bixby Vision” on the Galaxy S8, a sight-based version of its own Bixby digital assistant, for example. And Snapchat (and now Instagram) are using low-level AI to apply goofy filters to your face. But Google’s offering much more with Lens than just image recognition, shopping, or face filters. And while Facebook is exploring similar computer vision efforts, Google is trying to do it sooner than later with Lens.
Google Assistant can now analyze the world around you with the help of your smartphone camera. Using a technology the company calls Google Lens, the Assistant will analyze your surroundings and display relevant content on your screen. You’ll see a restaurant’s rating when pointing your phone at the storefront, you can aim it at a flower and it will identify the species, and you can even pull up a band’s music or videos by pointing Lens at a concert poster. But the most useful example might be this: if you point Lens at Wi-Fi login credentials, your Android phone will be able to use that info to log on to that network.
Google’s not the first company to try to add artificial intelligence to a smartphone’s camera. Samsung recently launched “Bixby Vision” on the Galaxy S8, a sight-based version of its own Bixby digital assistant, for example. And Snapchat (and now Instagram) are using low-level AI to apply goofy filters to your face. But Google’s offering much more with Lens than just image recognition, shopping, or face filters. And while Facebook is exploring similar computer vision efforts, Google is trying to do it sooner than later with Lens.
