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Google developing Lens feature to decode doctors’ handwriting

Say farewell to those indecipherable prescription scribbles

Doctors are well known for scribbling hasty prescriptions that are near indecipherable for the average person. However, Google’s working on a solution that could allow Google Lens to detect the medicines listed in a prescription.

Google showed off the feature at its annual conference in India on December 19th (via TechCrunch), saying that it was working with pharmacists to decipher the handwriting of doctors. Once the feature rolls out to Google Lens, users will be able to either take a picture of a doctor’s note or upload one from their photo library. After processing the image, the app will detect and highlight medicines mentioned in the note.

However, Google hasn’t shared details about when the feature will launch, saying only that “much work still remains to be done before this system is ready for the real world.”

Moreover, Google Lens already offers some features for transcribing written notes. However, as noted by The Verge, how well the feature works depends on how legible the handwriting is. Given doctors’ notoriously illegible handwriting, it’ll be interesting to see how well the Lens feature will work, if at all.

Source: TechCrunch, The Verge

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