Google Lens, Part 1

One of my friends, Neil, had a few questions recently about Google Lens, which he had just started using. I was going to refer him to an article or two I wrote about it a while back. However, I discovered I had notes about it with updates that I had never published. So, today I will cover Google Lens. If you have not heard of this app, download it, install it, and experiment with it right away. Note that it now comes on most recent models of Android phones and on newer iPhones (built into the system camera which I have not experienced). I have also heard it may be installed on some iPhones.

Google Lens is an application released to the public in mid to late 2018. It uses artificial intelligence to identify real-world objects; landmarks, places, text, translate text/signs/documents, add a contact from a business card, to help you. It uses your phone’s camera to take a photo and proceed from there. You can also load a previous photo taken from your phone and it will work on those.

Once installed on your phone from the Play Store, Google Lens uses learning to distinguish familiar patterns in your photos. It can then search for similar images on the internet or provide information about the object at which you are looking.

For instance, I opened Google Lens and took a picture of my dog. It scanned the picture and immediately identified it as a Shih Tzu. It first showed several photos of that breed of dog and below that gave links regarding Shih Tzus, which included why you should not get one. Thanks Google. I then took a picture of a Magnolia tree that sat about 30 yards from me. It correctly identified it and gave information about where they grow, how tall they get, etc. Finally, for these examples I photographed a coffee cup, and you guessed it, many similar cups were shown with links to Amazon, the Google Store and several other suppliers. That is one way they make money on this free app. By advertising and if you buy one by clicking on the link, they make money, at no extra expense to you.

Check the shots below how it discovered my dog in a Halloween costume. (Provided by my daughter.)

I also tested it by taking a picture of my older iPad mini with an attached Bluetooth keyboard. It incorrectly identified it as an iPad Air 2, but then identified many Bluetooth keyboards…including the correct one. Of course, places to purchase them all were given in abundance.

Come back next week for the next article, “Google Lens, Part 2.” I will give you more helpful and sometimes unbelievable features that Lens provides. I use it a lot and have discovered more help and information than you can imagine. I will give you a few step-by-step instructions on how to benefit from this FREE Google app and how it has helped me throughout the past couple of years.

As I have stated in the past, Google has come out with some amazing apps over the years. Most remain active today; however, sometimes they decide to stop production of some of them. This is one that I hope stays and develops more features in the future!

*  The model, Chewbacca, was rewarded with a treat for modeling above. No animals were harmed during filming.