The huge multinational does not stop and Google Lens is one of the many examples of it. This is an application that, although it seems absolutely revolutionary, is the mix of several features that we have already seen in other apps , both of this company and others, in combination with a Scanner more accurate and, in theory, smart.
The truth is that it is an application that can be very functional in many cases and, at least, entertaining in others. It will allow us to buy the dress of the woman who sits next to you at the cinema or to know if the tattoos written in Chinese are or are not a scam, for putting a couple of various examples.
We have said a lot and very little at a time about this software. Therefore, it is best to continue reading because we are going to explain exactly what Google Lens is and how it works , which will help you better understand what it offers and why.
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Index:
What is GLens and how does the Google object recognizer work? ?
Google Lens is another of the many applications that Google has launched to the Android and iOS app market and whose success was seen coming from afar.
This uses Machine Learning technology to analyze what you aim at with your camera of photos. For what? -You will ask.
The application will recognize it, indicating you , first of all, what kind of element it is . After that, will offer you different options that you can execute depending on the type of this one.
If you had already heard of it, it may be because of its most famous function, which is to look for similar products. Its use seeks, in most cases, to know where a garment is or how much a specific model of shoes costs.
Yes, this idea may sound to you if you are a fan of the well-known sitcom The Big Bang Theory, because its female protagonist has exactly this idea and begins, together with the most brilliant scientist of her group of friends, to develop an application with which to take a photo of some shoes to search a database and know where they are sold.
However, the application offers you much more. The essence is to offer you all kinds of simple services compared to the elements that your intelligence is able to recognize and that , obviously, are available through an application and the network itself .
We have code reading, text copying, multimedia content discovery and much more, although we will see all its functions in more detail in the next sections.
List of all functions and things you can do using GLens
¿Quieres saber qué puedes hacer con este software? Lo cierto es que es muy entretenido y, lo más importante, te puede ayudar de diversas maneras. Veamos qué nos ofrece:
Element detection
The first thing you’re going to get, by default, is access to Lens, the Google scanner. This is the viewfinder of your rear camera , which begins, as we have explained, to scan using Machine Learning technology .
When you focus on anything, the scanner begins to design, using dots, the central element of the image . Then, as the corresponding detection is made, you must click on the color button that will appear in the center of the element and you will be shown the results found as well as what you can do.
Texts
One of the options is to work the text. When the app detects some text it will give you different options depending on what you put:
- Search . The most basic option is to do a search with that concept on google.com or google.es.
- Translate . If the text is given in a language other than the established one, you will also be given the option to open the translator (from Google, of course) and find the text in your language.
- Call . If the text is a phone number you can call with the press of a button.
- Send SMS . Another button that is incorporated as an option will be to send a text message to a detected number.
- Add contact . If you are interested, you can save the number in your address book by adding it as a new one or modifying any existing one.
- Indicate web . If you focus on the name of a website, that is, if it detects the http, www or .com, you will be invited to go, with direct access, to the website.
- Copy text . Without more, you also have this option, which can be useful in many cases.
- Add events . If you point to an event on a calendar you can use a button to add the event to your calendar.
- Reviews and other information . Point to a place with a text sign and let the app look for reviews and other information about the place.
Search for similar products
The star function, as we anticipated:
You focus on anything and GLens shows you all kinds of results in which similar elements are seen . You can find an online store where to buy something similar – or even the same if the scanned item is available in the database – (like Amazon or Aliexpress), find the image in a blog, on image upload pages (such as Vinted) or on the web where it originally came from, etc.
Identify plants and animals
You can point to any plant or animal and you will have, in a second, a list of suggestions, with an image included, about the species that may correspond to what is shown, in order of probability. 
Discover books, multimedia content and more
When you point to copyrighted elements of which you have information on the network you can get all of it. For example, a well-focused studio album will allow you to meet composers, release date and even the lyrics of their songs. From a book you will know its summary, published reviews.
Además, siempre que sea posible, dispondrás de un enlace para hacer la búsqueda general en internet, a vídeos e incluso links de compra si se diese el caso.
Scan codes
Sencilla y muy eficaz, esta sirve para dar con la información que los diferentes espacios ofrecen a través de un código, ya sea una audioguía para un monumento, un acceso directo a una web o información sobre el tiempo de espera del bus urbano.
Scan image
We also have, now, the option of, instead of scanning our environment, uploading an image from our own phone and, in the same way, the software looks for similar elements. The functionalities given will be the same, always chosen according to the program you consider. What you need to do is click on the characteristic icon of «Image» located in the upper area .
Steps to install Google e iOS on your mobile phone start recognizing everything
If you want to try the application you just have to download it and start, which is very simple. We show you the step by step both to get her and to start using it:
Installation
The installation of this application is really simple, identical to that of so many others that are in the Google Play Store:
- Open your app store .
- Click on the search bar .
- Type « Google Lens »on it.
- Click on the option whose developer is Google LLC.
- Now click on the green button that says ” Install ” .
- You may be asked to configure the payment method before starting the installation.
- Click on “Skip”; never enter your sensitive data unless you specifically intend to use them.
- Whether or not the previous step is taken, the installation will be done automatically.
If the “Install” button in point 5 does not exist and instead you find one that says “Open”, it will mean that this software is already installed on your mobile, something that can happen. In fact, even by default. If this is the case, you should not do anything else; The app is on your phone and you can start using it.
In case you are interested in using this software and you cannot or do not want to download it, know that Google Assistant and Google Photos also integrate its features .
If you have an Apple iOS device , know that you will not find Google Lens as such in App Sotre. You will have to install the generic Google application (the process is what we just saw but for the Google app, also of Google LLC) and, within this, choose the Google Lens option, which located in the upper area.
Use of Google Lens
Once you have GLens on your mobile, you can start using it:
- Open the application .
- Point towards the element of your interest. Another option is to click on the top icon of an image and load whatever you have in your gallery.
- Wait .
- Click on the point closer to the element you want to scan.
- Different results as well as actions will be shown at the bottom. You can press on the one of your interest, either make a call or see a similar image in a store; as you have seen before, the options are totally different.
List of the best alternative object detectors to Google Lens
Finalmente, queremos proponerte algunas alternativas a GLens. Si te ha interesado este software puedes probar algunas otras opciones que hay en el infinito mercado de las apps. Nosotros te dejamos las que, a nuestra elección, resultan más útiles en unos u otros aspectos; ¡ya irás viendo en qué caso son mejores unas u otras!
fooView
It is a software available for Android devices in 4.1 that you can download on Google Play, free of charge and that requires, of course, certain usage permissions.
Its interface includes a floating button that you can use to access your different tasks without considering what the screen is focusing on . That is, it is not an app exclusively designed to do the same as GLens, but the element scanner is one of its options , which you access, by the way, yes, through that floating button , click on the camera icon.
Then, yes, you focus with the floating button, detection is performed and you are given some options, just as Lens does.
Intelligent Visual Search
In this case we are not talking about an application itself but rather of a resource that is in different elements that Microsoft has in the market such as Microsoft Launcher, Edge or Bing >.
This is used to find images as similar as possible to those given through Bing . It does by using an AI that feeds on predefined images and has machine learning, to identify common specific features that differentiate some elements from others .
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A very good point of Intelligent Visual Search is that you can frame an area for the scanner to consider, regardless of the rest . This is very useful where there is too much information in a small space and we are not able to focus more accurately.
Image Analysis Toolset
Logically includes object identifier. In addition, web detector, logo identifier. Indicating to which company it corresponds and giving you information about it, reference identifier, text recognition , allowing you to digitize it, move and edit it, colorimeter or censorship risk meter , among other options.
CamFind
The longest of the options, CamFind manages to remain a competent rival thanks, among other things, to that it is also available for iOS.
The operation is a little different because you have to take a picture , it is not enough to just point. In addition, is uploaded to servers (although it is done with a simple tap). Here comes CloudSight, which is the CAMFind recognition API .
This tells you what you have photographed and makes suggestions of websites where you can find information about what appears in the image, purchases and related images (come on, that looks like a lot).
Finally, know that you have the option to save results in Favorites , but you must activate this functionality both to do so and to see those marked by other users (this will help you to find the most useful results of searches similar to yours).
PictPicks or Image Search Viewer
Includes Google Material Desing so if you are using their applications you will not notice much difference in handling. In fact, it also includes the search search for images of this corporation although, of course, the results do not go to the Google website but to the PictPicks interface.
You have benefits such as very varied filters to select images , being these of color, time, type of photo, size … You even have the option of activate SafeSearch > and use a result as a search element to get more , working on a kind of domino effect, basing a search on the results of the previous ones.
Similarly, you can launch images via bluetooth or even WhatsApp to get them to your device and have PictPicks scan them.