Where It's AT – Assistive Technology Blog

Seeing Assistant Home Lite

Contributed by Joel Zimba, Special Projects Coordinator, MDTAP

Transition Technologies has recently released the app Seeing Assistant Home.  The lite version of the app is free, and it provides several useful tools.

The “light detector” changes pitch as the level of light, as detected by the rear camera, increases or decreases.  This is extremely useful.  Understanding the level of light in a room might help for scanning of documents or recognizing barcodes.  Another possible use is holding the camera near the lights on a telephone or other appliance to know if they are lit.  A blinking light will produce an oscillating pitch.

The” color recognizer” reports primary colors  I have seen other color recognizers which are more sensitive or report a wider range of colors, though this one will do in a pinch and is, of course, free.

The bar code reader will scan until it finds a barcode and allows you to attach a label to it.  The free version allows text tags, while the paid version may allow recorded voice tags.  This would be useful for attaching your own labels to things.  However, Seeing Assistant Home will not search the Internet for product barcodes like Digit Eyes or a similar QR code reader.

There is also an included magnifier, though it uses the slightly misleading name of “loupe”.  This will turn your phone into a quick and dirty video magnifier.  Again, more extensive paid apps will allow for better magnification and options.

While the paid version has not been tested, it apparently adds voice command functionality.  All of the above utilities can be controlled by voice commands, rather than navigating the interface with Voice Over.

Check it out yourself by searching for “Seeing Assistant” in the App Store.  It should work on all modern iOS devices.