The newly launched tools put machine learning and front-facing cameras to work detecting face and eye movements. Disabled users can now scan their phone screen and select a task by raising eyebrows, smiling, opening their mouth, or looking to the left, right or up. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 61 million adults in the United States live with disabilities. So, Google and rivals Apple and Microsoft are determined to make easy to use products and services for them.
Here is How Disabled People Can Use Android Phones with Face Gestures
Anyhow, one of the tools is “Camera Switches,” which lets people use their faces instead of swipes and taps to interact with smartphones. “To make Android more accessible for everyone, we’re launching new tools. They make it easier to control your phone and communicate using facial gestures,” Google said. The other is Project Activate, a new Android application that allows people to use those gestures to trigger an action, like having a phone play a recorded phrase, send a text, or make a call. The free Activate app is available in Canada, Britain, Australia and the United States at the Google Play store. However, it will be available in other countries very soon. Apple, Google and Microsoft have consistently rolled out innovations that make internet technology more accessible to people with disabilities. For instance, voice-commanded digital assistants built into speakers and smartphones. These enable people with sight or movement challenges to tell computers what to do. Similarly, there is software that identifies text on web pages or in images and then reads it aloud. There is also an automatic generation of captions that display what is said in videos. Apple has also built an “AssistiveTouch” feature in the smartwatch that controls the displays by sensing movements such as finger pinches or hand clenches. Similarly, Microsoft describes accessibility as essential to empowering everyone with technology tools. Recommended: How does Google Chrome know what you want to search on the internet?
