I Just Used the OCR Scan Text Feature in iOS 16.2, with VoiceOver: An Impressive Tool for Low Vision Users

[M. Taylor]

Hello All,

So, a few moments ago, on my 14, with iOS 16.2 I decided to give the Scan
Text feature a whirl while composing a text message in 16.2.

While I do not have enough vision to read the text of the display, letter
for letter, I do see well enough to detect objects in a camera's field of
view, recognize that text has been entered in to edit fields, etc.

So, I got a recent hardcopy letter, that I had received in the mail, and
placed it on a flat surface. When I initiated the feature from within the
text message edit field, the back camera was immediately activated on the
lower portion of the display. VoiceOver instructed me to move the camera
lower so that the letter was in the camera's field of view.

When the text was detected, I could see that it popped up in the edit field
near the top of the display. This was not a photo of the text but, rather,
an OCR version that VoiceOver could read as if I had typed it into the edit
field, manually. All I had to do in order to save the text to the text
message edit field was to single-finger, double-tap the insert button
located near the bottom of the display.

Most impressive, at least to a low vision VoiceOver user.

The OCR feature, as described above, also works in the Notes app.

What I find most astonishing is that text recognition is virtually
instantaneous; I could not detect any lag time between when the text on a
piece of paper, in the Camera's field of view, appeared, and when that same
text popped up in the edit field into which it could be saved.

Apple is clearly onto something wonderful hear.

If only Apple's OCR would read out the text in the camera's field of view,
automatically, there would be virtually no need for any third-party OCR
apps.

I realize that a totally blind VoiceOver user requires more specific
instructions, than, "Scroll down," in order to use OCR but, if any company
can make OCR, even after all these years, appear magical, it is Apple.

In the meantime, for those who can use the Scan Text feature, I urge you to
do so and pass your findings on to Apple.

Mark

[Harry Bell]

I just tried this out with my 13 pro and while the camera was scanning the text of my letter, i could make out that the amount of text being detected and transcribed kept changing in a very unstable and confusing way. At first there were perhaps 4 lines of text, then perhaps 12 lines, then suddenly back to 4 lines, tgen 8 lines, then back to 4 lines - all without any audible feedback. There was an “Insert Text” button on the pop-up at the bottom of the screen which i had to double tap at a key moment when i guessed the maximum amount of text had been detected - but quickly, before the text in the text edit field disappeared again! I might stick to using Voice Dream Scanner…
Harry

> On 3 Jan 2023, at 06:16, M. Taylor <mk...@ucla.edu> wrote:
>
> Hello All,

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[M. Taylor]

Hello Harry,

Thank you for giving this a try.

For the most part, your experience mirrors my own.

I did not find it confusing as I quickly discovered that the amount of text recognized greatly depended upon the distance of the phone from the paper.

No doubt that it is not ready for, primetime, for VoiceOver users, at large, but, after a little practice, I found it quick and easy to use and, given that it can be activated from within an edit field, most convenient.

I certainly wouldn't recommend this feature as a replacement for third-party apps but it is definitely a step in the right direction as far as making OCR a native feature of the Apple OS feature-set.

Mark

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone2/04C584FE-E108-4C0D-B1CE-8B3AA5EE6606%40icloud.com.