Seeing AI reads printed recipes aloud for a woman with RP

AI system

System: Microsoft Seeing AI smartphone app (computer-vision text recognition to speech)
Model: Not assessed
Release: Not assessed
Application developer: Microsoft
Role: Not assessed
Configuration: Not assessed
Inputs and outputs: Not assessed
Autonomy: Not assessed
Workflow: Smartphone camera text recognition read aloud. Introduction of the app during structured low-vision rehabilitation. Task-specific use in a familiar environment.
Human oversight: Not assessed
Relation to AI: Seeing AI's computer-vision text recognition is what converts the printed recipe into speech. The report lists it alongside non-AI aids (Be My Eyes volunteers, optical devices). It attributes recipe access specifically to Seeing AI.
AI contribution: Seeing AI's computer-vision text recognition is what converts the printed recipe into speech. The report lists it alongside non-AI aids (Be My Eyes volunteers, optical devices). It attributes recipe access specifically to Seeing AI.

Benefits

Outcome identifiers: Not assessed
Benefit: A 62-year-old with autosomal dominant RP used Microsoft Seeing AI to read printed recipes in her kitchen (case report, 2025).
Category: Improved Accessibility
Status: Not assessed
Beneficiary groups: People. Society.
Beneficiaries: Not assessed
Reach: Not assessed
Distribution and access: Not assessed
Duration: Not assessed
Expected?: Yes
Costs and harms: Not assessed

Measurement

Studies: Not assessed
Study design: Not assessed
Measurement: Not assessed
Setting and sample: Not assessed
Measures: Not assessed
Comparison: Assumed alternative: reading print through her habitual spectacle lenses
Results: Assumed comparison. Reference: She was having trouble reading printed materials, specifically recipes and food preparation instructions, through her habitual spectacle lenses. Result: Seeing AI helping her to access printed recipes.
Additional value from AI: Not assessed
Limitations: Not assessed
Denominators: Not assessed
Materials for replication: Not assessed

Money

Kind of value: Not assessed
Amount: Not assessed
Currency and prices: Not assessed
Period and unit: Not assessed
Realization: Not assessed
Recipients and payers: Not assessed
Gross or net: Not assessed
Included costs: Not assessed
Comparison: Not assessed
Method: Not assessed
Return and payback: Not assessed

People and places

Participants: Developer: Microsoft. Operator: Vision rehabilitation clinic (author's department, Vanderbilt University Medical Center), which referred the patient to the state of Tennessee's blind and independent living skills training program; a Technology Access Program specialist introduced the apps; the patient used them at home.
Jurisdictions: Benefit: Tennessee, United States. Developer: United States. Operator: United States.
Ownership and control: Not assessed
Dependencies: Not assessed
Cross-border connections: Not assessed
Geopolitical implications: Not assessed

Follow-up

Conditions for replication: Patient can aim a phone camera at text. Printed material of legible font and contrast. Smartphone ownership and training.
Replication attempts: 1 follow-up entries. Benefit recurred: 1.
Later findings: No later development found.
Availability: Not assessed
Institutional decision: Not assessed
Grounds: Not assessed
Action and result: Not assessed
Success criterion: Not assessed

Evidence

Source numbers: AIBD-0056-source-0001–0003
Citations: Numbered references below.
Language: Not assessed
Source relationships: Operator, Developer
Original evidence: Not assessed
Access and versions: Not assessed
Supported findings: Not assessed
Evidence links: Not assessed
Evidence strength: Not assessed
Missing evidence: Not assessed

Grades

Assessed benefits: People. Society.
Depth: People: 1. Society: 1.
Reasons: People: An identifiable patient gained audio access to printed recipes in her kitchen. The report documents this single functional use within a broader rehabilitation plan. The gain is small. Society: Single case report. The app is widely available but no population effect is shown here.
Observed or intended: Not assessed
Rubric: Not assessed
Assessor and date: Not assessed
Alternative assessments: Not assessed
Fill: The deployer's account

Entry details

Kind

Not assessed

Related entries

Both convert visual content into accessible output for blind and low-vision users; the accessibility tools mislabelled content and interfered with screen readers, harming blind users such as Jakob Rosin.

Field

Low-vision rehabilitation. People with retinitis pigmentosa.

Purpose

Read printed text aloud for people with visual impairment using computer vision

Dates

Date basis unassessed: 2025 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.

Stage

Not assessed

Version

SHA-256: dd0b2a17618a…

References

Other identifiers: AI Incident Database: 830.
Category mappings: Not assessed
Brief: Not assessed
Revisions: 7 revisions. Latest: 21 October 2026.

Sources

Case report Deployer

Robinson JL (2025). Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa: A Case Report. Case Reports in Ophthalmological Medicine 2025:4856296.
Press release Developer

Microsoft Corporation (2025). Seeing AI. Apple App Store listing; the listing's developer field reads 'Microsoft Corporation' (vendor page, cited only to attribute the app to Microsoft).