“Children
can use it as a tool which helps them to learn Math, while parents can use it
to check the homework to their children. With PhotoMath, you can have a Math
teacher in your pocket”
Excerpt from the
description of PhotoMath updated Saturday October 25th 2014 on the Apple iTunes
Store
Math
Teachers at the MICO University College,
you just got replaced by PhotoMath, the
World's First Camera Calculator. High School students; now would be a good time
to cancel those Math Extra Lessons classes or get a Windows Phone or Apple
iPhone smartphone, whichever you can do first!
Remember
Season 4, Episode 12 of The Big
Bang Theory entitled the Bus Pants Utilization when the Gang wanted to make
an App suggested by Leonard Hofstadter that could solve any mathematics
equation? Here’s the video to jog your memory!
Well,
for the math-challenged, rejoice, as your Christmas and relief from the
drudgery of solving complex algebraic mathematical problems is over!
Microblink, the London-based company behind
the PhotoPay Technology used for automated Bill Payment in European Banks, has
decided to use its technology for evil by developing an App that solves
mathematical equations as reported in the article “PhotoMath
Is A Free App That Can Solve Equations Through Smartphone Cameras”,
published 10/22/2014 7:58PM, by Amit Chowdhry, Forbes.
 |
The
free App, billed as the world's first Camera Calculator, is currently only
available for Apple iPhones and not Google Android smartphones, can be seen as
either a Student's little helper or a Math Teacher's Nightmare as described in
the article “Use
your phone's camera to solve equations with PhotoMath”, published October
28, 2014 11:01 AM PDT by Matt Elliott, CNET News.
It
can solve arrange of mathematical problems:
1. Basic
arithmetic
2. Fractions
3. Decimal
numbers
4. Linear
equations
5. Logarithms
Basically
it uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) from another App that they
developed called PDF417 Barcode Scanner that reads 1D barcodes, 2D barcodes and
QR codes to read the algebraic Math Equation on printed pages recognize it and solve
the equation for the unknown.
How to use PhotoMath – Algebraic
Equations a Step at a time with a Math App Teacher
There
are four (4) buttons on the screen:
1. History
2. Light
3. Steps
4. Help
History
is just like the one in your computer Browser; it keeps track of the previous mathematics
equations you’ve solved. The light just turns on your smartphone Camera light
so as to allow you to solve equations in the dark.
 |
Steps
to me is the best part; it can show you in steps how to solve the equation. And
of course Help assists you with the App, albeit in my book, if you need help
using this simple App, then no Math teacher, real or AI (Artificial
intelligent) can help you with your math problems!
The
instructions for use are quite straightforward:
1. Place
the equation with the red square frame, dragging the frame to enclose the
entire equation while holding your hand steady
2. PhotoMath will then solve the equation and
display the answer onscreen
3. Tap
the Steps button, swiping up or down to view the Steps to solve the equation
First
off the bat, I'd like to say it would be great if it I had a Social Media
element where math-minded peeps could also hold conversation about Math
equations and explore different aspects of Mathematics. A Developer Platform
would also be good, as this has uses beyond just solving mathematical equations
but also applications in 3D Geometry as well.
More
updates are coming, so it’s early days yet as to what the developers of PhotoMath
have in store for the mathematically-challenged. That being said, PhotoMath does have limitations though:
1. It
can only read printed text, not written text or test on a printed screen,
unlike the App proposed in the show the Big Bang Theory
2. It
needs refinement, as it often mistakes the “x” unknown in the equation for the
multiplication sign
3. Has
difficulty identifying the unknown in the equation, albeit it solves for the value
of the unknown
4. The red coloured Frame may not be large enough
the capture all of the equation.
Microblink PhotoMath -
How OCR can make Online Banking Simpler and Safer
Microblink PhotoMath,
as simple as it looks, is harnessing the full power of all those cores in your
smartphone.
Their
technology is a lot like MadBits, a company
that Twitter purchased as they specialize in the emergent field of Artificial
Vision that involves the development of AI (Artificial Intelligence) Systems
that can extract data from images as explained in my blog article
entitled “Twitter
buys Madbits – How Torch7 powered Artificial Vision will make Twitter more like
Facebook”
Microblink knows this; they plan to use their
PhotoMath App and its technology to build Apps
to enable online banking using Credit Cards.
Instead
of having to enter your Credit Cards, possibly such an App would automatically
scan your Credit Cards details and utilize them on online shopping websites
such as Amazon or even Facebook and Twitter's soon-to-come Buy Button as
described in my blog
article entitled “Twitter’s
one-click Buy Button – How One-Click E-Commerce is Twitter’s Great Smurfberry
Scam Confessions of a Shopaholic”.
But
in the meantime, you can try out this App that Microblink
built which the Gang on the Big Bang Theory never got around to making that’s
available on the Apple
iTunes Store and the Windows Phone
Store, with a Google Android App set to be released in 2015.
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