11 Top Image Recognition Apps to Watch in 2021

In the machine vision area, image recognition refers to the ability of software to identify people, objects, places, or actions in images.

Machine vision technologies combine device cameras and artificial intelligence algorithms to achieve accurate image recognition to guide autonomous robots and vehicles or perform other tasks (for example, searching image content).

During the last few years, we've seen quite a few apps powered by image recognition technologies appear on the market. Here are 11 ones you should be watching in 2019.

1. Google Lens

This fantastic app allows capturing images with a smartphone camera and then performing an image-based search on the web. It works just like Google Images reverse search by offering users links to pages, Wikipedia articles, and other relevant resources connected to the image.

2. Aipoly Vision

Category: Accessibility

Accessibility is one of the most exciting areas in image recognition applications. Aipoly is an excellent example of an app designed to help visually impaired and color blind people to recognize the objects or colors they're pointing to with their smartphone camera.

3. TapTapSee

Category: Accessibility

This mobile camera app was designed to address the needs of blind and visually impaired users. TapTapSee takes advantage of your mobile device's camera and VoiceOver functions to take a picture or video of anything you point your smartphone at and identify it out loud for you.

4. Cam Find

Category: Shopping

Allowing users to literally Search the Physical World™, this app offers a mobile visual search engine. Take a picture of an object and the app will tell you what it is and generate practical results like images, videos, and local shopping offers.

Once users find what they were looking for, they can save their findings to their profiles and share them with friends and family easily. To discover more products, users can follow others and build their social feed.

5. ScreenShop

Category: Shopping

This is an app for fashion lovers who want to know where to get items they see on photos of bloggers, fashion models, and celebrities. The app basically identifies shoppable items in photos, focussing on clothes and accessories.

All it takes is snapping a screenshot of a photo or video, and the app will show you relevant products in online stores, as well as similar images from their vast and constantly-updated catalog.

6. Flow Powered by Amazon

Category: Shopping

Flow can identify millions of products like DVDs and CDs, book covers, video games, and packaged household goods – for example, the box of your favorite cereal.

It also allows scanning business cards to add new people to your contacts swiftly. Flow also decodes UPC barcodes, QR codes, phone numbers, as well as web and email addresses, and information on business cards.

7. Google Reverse Image Search

Category: Similarity checks

This handy tool helps you look for images similar to the one you upload. Search results may include related images, sites that contain the image, as well as sizes of the image you searched for.

It's very helpful for those who need a find higher-quality image on the web or look for something specific, like a particular cat breed.

8. LeafSnap

Category: Nature

Developed by researchers from Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution, this series of free mobile apps uses visual recognition software to help users identify tree species from photos of their leaves.

The image recognition apps include amazing high-resolution images of leaves, flowers, and fruits for you to enjoy.

9. CalorieMama

Category: Food

Combining deep learning and image classification technology, this app scans the content of the dish on your plate, indicating ingredients and computing the total number of calories – all from a single photo! Snap a picture of your meal and get all the nutritional information you need to stay fit and healthy.

The app prides itself in having the most culturally diverse food identification system on the market, and their Food AI API continually improves its accuracy thanks to new food images added to the database on a regular basis.

10. Vivino

Category: Food

Wine lovers will appreciate this app. A user just needs to take a photo of any wine label or restaurant wine list to instantly get detailed information about it, together with community ratings and reviews.

Moreover, it's possible to buy the wine and have it shipped to the user's home. Once users try the wine, they can add their own ratings and reviews to share with the community and receive personalized recommendations.

11. Not Hotdog

Category: Fun

That one is a classic. Because sometimes you just need to know whether the picture in front of you contains a hot-dog.

Image recognition technology combined with mobility and AI software offers a powerful mix of potential features, expanding the capabilities of our smartphones beyond our imagination.

Keep an eye on this space to stay at the forefront of the inspiring developments on the mobile scene.