This tool is a magic solution when we want to find information related to something whose correct name we do not know, or when we are in a hurry and do not want to waste time and incur the trouble of writing. Google Lens helps us, in such cases, to quickly reach the closest results similar to the item whose image you took. But quick searches are not all that the tool can do, as there are many things that can be done in an amazingly smooth and fast way using Google Lens, and below we review a group of other useful and exceptional uses for Google Lens.
How to access Google Lens
There is more than one way to access and use the Google Lens tool, and depending on the device you are using, if you are using a smartphone, the easiest way will be through the Google application available on Android phones and is often pre-installed on the phone, and is also available for iPads and iPhones. On the App Store, all you have to do after launching the application is to press the camera icon with colored edges inside the search bar (on one side of the bar). It is worth noting that Google provides an independent application for the tool on the Android system with the same name as “ Google Lens ”, so it can also be relied upon.On a computer, the only way to use Google Lens is to rely on a web browser, where you go to the Google Images website and click on the colored camera icon that appears in the search bar. It should be noted that when using the tool in the browser, you will notice that its features are much limited compared to the mobile application, as it only allows performing reverse image searches to find out its origin or extracting text from the image.
Useful uses for Google Lens
Writing equations and solving math problems
Advanced calculators have very amazing capabilities that enable them to solve complex types of mathematical problems and equations with complete ease, but for non-students, scholars and teachers, these types of calculators are usually not at hand all the time, unlike our smartphones.
Although the capabilities of many smartphones have become competitive with the most powerful calculators and often surpass them, most people face difficulty entering symbols and mathematical equations into the smartphone via the keyboard. However, thanks to the Google lens, it has become easy to enter any mathematical equation or problem into the phone and solve it.
All we have to do is press the lens button in the Google app and go to the "Homework" option from the toolbar below, then point the phone's camera at any written mathematical equation or problem and press the camera button to take a picture of it. The text of the equation or problem to be solved should appear on the screen, and it is enough to click on it to display the final result or solution. And in the event that you want to know the steps of the solution, and not only the result or the final solution to the problem, you can press the “Solve” button to show the steps of the solution.
Scan the barcode and QR to find out where to buy a specific product
Barcodes and QR Codes have become a more flexible and reliable way to replace writing a long list of information on various product labels. The label of any product no longer includes only the necessary information after all the information on the various types of products became available on the Internet, and it is sufficient that you scan the QR code or barcode using the phone’s camera in order to be able to view all information related to the product on the Internet starting from The contents of the product and even the manufacturer's data and the licenses that it obtained in order to be able to market its product.Although there are many barcode reading applications and tools, Google Lens is considered the most effective and flexible mechanism thanks to being part of the Google search engine, and in addition to all the previous information related to the product, Google Lens can help you reach the places that sell this product, every What you have to do is press the Google Lens button, point the phone's camera at the QR or barcode, then press the camera shutter, and wait for the code to be read and the results to appear. And if you want to know the stores and markets that sell this product and their prices, you can simply click on the “Shopping” button below.
Extract written text from images
One of the unique features of Google Lens is its ability to analyze images or objects scanned using the camera to extract and extract written characters and phrases from them thanks to the optical character recognition (OCR) feature, and convert them into text that can be copied, pasted and saved as a document or text file.Its ability is not limited to extracting letters only, but it can extract numbers as well, which makes it able to help in accomplishing several tasks. For example, this feature can be used to add phone contacts directly from business cards without the need to manually enter the number and name into the The phone application to save it in the contacts.
Written texts can be extracted from images saved on the phone through the Google Photos application by viewing the image within the application and pressing the “Lens” button at the bottom. The lens will select detected text in the image, and you can select the specific portion of the text you wish to copy, just as you would any text in a document or web page. Click the Copy Text option, then paste it wherever you want. Or if the text is on a piece of paper, a banner, or an advertisement, you can open Google Lens to recognize the text directly.
You can also click on the Translate option from the toolbar below the text to translate it, or copy and paste the text into one of the dictionaries or translation sites to get a quick translation of it without having to type it entirely manually.
Converting written texts into audible speech
We have just explained how Google integrates some tools together, such as integrating the use of the Google Lens tool with the Google Translate tool, similarly, Google integrates Google Lens with other Google tools such as the text-to-speech tool, which Google in turn integrates with other tools such as Google's virtual assistant and Google Translate tool. In the event that the Google Lens tool is combined with the text-to-speech tool, it enables us to scan any element or capture any image that contains a phrase or written text and listen to its audio content instead of reading it.All we have to do is open Google Lens, point the phone's camera at the element that contains the text we want to hear, then press the camera's shutter button to take the picture. The text will appear written on the screen as soon as it is detected so we can press the "listen" button that appears below the text, and Google will convert the text into speech that it can play and hear. This feature can be taken advantage of when we are in the process of reading a paper book or a long article in a printed newspaper and we need to rest our eyes for a while, and it can also help people who cannot read or suffer from low vision or vision problems.
Helping to read doctors' prescriptions
The advantages and capabilities of Google Lens are not limited to its ability to extract printed letters from captured images, but rather, thanks to advanced types of machine learning algorithms, it can extract handwritten texts from images.
This feature tempted Google developers to enhance ways to take advantage of the Google Lens tool in particular to decipher doctors’ prescriptions, which are often difficult to interpret and read by ordinary people and even some pharmacists, so the developers worked to provide Google algorithms with the names of all medications and medical drugs, and when scanning a prescription Scanning medical using Google Lens, the tool will extract handwritten letters and then compare them with sample drug names, before outputting the results in the form of clear text written on the screen that can be read, copied, pasted and saved.
This feature is currently available in Google Lens, but it is still in its early stages, as artificial intelligence needs to train on huge numbers of prescriptions before it reaches high levels of accuracy in producing results, and therefore it would not be right to rely on the tool or rely on it to take any action. Treatment decisions or any medical procedures that affect the lives of patients and do not tolerate error, and their role may be limited to use in data entry operations and the like as an aid only when there is a need to make digital copies in the form of text files of handwritten medical documents, documents and prescriptions.
Google Lens still carries many useful and wonderful features and uses, such as extracting addresses from images and opening them in Google Maps, opening links on the phone by simply scanning the image of the link using the camera, searching for information about books, films, paintings and where to sell them, and reviewing reviews, ratings and art criticism. Available only by scanning a book cover image, movie poster or painting with a phone camera, identifying places, important buildings and monuments, finding reviews about cafes and restaurants, and many other things that can clearly make our daily lives easier. There are still steps to develop the tool by Google in order to be able to perform more tasks in its upcoming updates.