Google Lens brings super powers to your phone camera

Google has announced a new smart camera-based product called Google Lens. It’s essentially a super-powered version of Google Goggles that does way more than just do a search based on what you take a photo of.

Its most recently announced comparable product is probably Bixby Vision on the Galaxy S8 and S8+. It uses deep machine learning to not only detect object, but action functions based on those.

As an example, you can point to a specific flower and ask Google Assistant what it is, and it will tell you. Or, point it at the barcodes, network name and password keys on the back of a router and it connects your phone to the Wi-Fi network.

It can also recognise restaurants, clubs, cafes and then immediately bring up a pop-up window on the screen to show you reviews, address details and opening times.

With Google Lens, your smartphone camera won’t just see what you see, but will also understand what you see to help you take action. #io17 pic.twitter.com/viOmWFjqk1

— Google (@Google) May 17, 2017

Through Google Assistant, you will be able to do other things like point the camera at the show times outside a cinema, and tell it to remember that particular event. It also translates in real time when you point it at languages you don’t understand. 

When it launches, the service will be available through Google Assistant and Google Photos before being launched through other Google apps in the near future.