Swiss company develops app for blind people to recognize products

Europe Apr 30, 2012
Codecheck, the Swiss company has developed app that help people who are blind and low vision to recognize products. The app detects and reads what is written on the package.

By filming the barcode on the packaging, the app recognizes the product. The bar code contains the unique number by which each product can be identified worldwide.

The checkcode database has 9 million products baring this number in it.

Since it is difficult for people who are blind and low vision to find the barcode on the package, Codecheck has collaborated with the Swiss Federation for the Blind and people who are blind and low vision and developers to augment Scandit barcode scanning SDK with a function called “ScanGuide,” which guides the user through the barcode recognition process from start to finish.

Once the user’s camera has reached an ideal position, the Codecheck app scans the barcode and walks the user through the process of accessing product information such as ingredients, quality labels, environmental impact, and reviews. The auxiliary function guides the user with an artificial voice and gives him directions to find the bar code on the package.

Codecheck’s app is free and available for Swiss users, and the new “ScanGuide” feature is available for the price of 24,99 Euro.

By Aqeel Qureshi