Google Lens, Photos, Big Data, machine learning, Google Assistant
Google I/O 2017: AI-powered Google Lens turns phone camera into smart visual search engineGoogle via Twitter (screen-shot)

Technology major Google, at its annual 1/O 2017 developers conclave, announced Google Lens, a game changing camera app that turns a monotonous photo session into a lively infotainment session.

Artificial Intelligence-powered Google Lens is capable of understanding what pictures the user is taking and provides information about the subject in the photo. For instance, if the users takes a picture (via Google Photo app) of a hotel and taps the Google Lens option, it automatically connects it to the Google search function and gives the hotel's timings, menu card, reviews and table booking options.

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The company also said that the Google Lens button will be integrated into the Google Assistant app. Users will be able to easily launch Lens and insert a photo into the conversation with the Assistant, where it can process the data the photo contains and get the required information, thus turning the phone camera into a visual search engine.

Google Lens (if activated) is also intuitive enough to translate languages.

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During one of the demos, the company's CEO Sundar Pichai showcased another capability of Google Lens that left many in awe of its functions. Pichai connected his phone to a Wi-Fi network just by clicking a photo of the sticker on the router.

Google I/O 2017: AI-powered Google Lens turns phone camera into a smart visual search engineGoogle via Twitter

Google Lens is intelligent enough to identify that it's looking at a network's name and password, and then offers the user the option to tap a button and connect automatically.

The Google Lens app will get more intelligent over time as the company is investing huge cash and engineering resources on Big Data research to improve machine learning. Besides Google Photo and Google Assistant, the Lens feature is expected to be incorporated in more apps in the coming days. It is compatible with any device running Android Marshmallow or later versions.

[Big Data: Extremely large set of information that is analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions.]