Google launches a new app called Look to Speak that allows you to "talk" using the movement of your eyes: here's how it works
Google takes another step forward in accessibility with the launch of Look to Speak, the first app that allows you to talk with your eyes. The app uses a smartphone's front-facing camera to allow people with speech impairments to communicate with those around them easily and effectively.
To create the Look to Speak app, Google enlisted the support of speech therapist Richard Cave. The collaboration led to the development of the project, which recently turned into the application that is already available for download through the Big G store. In the blog of the Mountain View giant, the same Cove has commented positively on the success of the software, noting that "now conversations can take place more easily where before there would have been only silence". At the base of the app is the ease of use, even in circumstances that previously would not have allowed you to use your eyes to write messages to be read to people around you.
Look to speak, how the app works to speak with the eyes of Google
The method of operation of Look to Speak is complex but based on a procedure already known: while the user moves the gaze on some preset phrases on the screen of the smartphone, the front camera translates the movement in each direction and selects the corresponding phrase. Once sure of the choice, the software plays the message for the surrounding hearing people. Of course, everything happens in a matter of moments, making it possible for a quick conversation between the parties.
What makes Google's application an easy-to-use tool is the need to carry only a smartphone and not a particularly complex, heavy or expensive instrument. Thanks to a three-panel interface, the app allows the choice of the pre-filled phrase and the selection of the same on the screen of a single phone, the same that plays the text once selected.
Look to speak, how to download the app and for whom it is already available
The app Look to speak by Google is already available for download through the Google Play Store, completely free of charge. To use it, you need to have a phone running Android 9 or higher, or be in possession of an Android One phone.
To meet the needs of many, Google has created a guide that explains how the app works and teaches its use to first-time users, namely all those people with speech and movement difficulties.