Microsoft Garage's Snip Insights brings AI to your screen captures

Microsoft's experimental Garage division has birthed a number of interesting apps and tools. Among the latest is Snip Insights, a project designed to help pull valuable information out of your screenshots.

Developed over a four-month period by a Garage intern team in Vancouver, Snip Insights builds on the Windows Snipping Tool by adding AI capabilities from Azure Cognitive Services. The result is a tool that can convert images to translated text, tag image content, and more. From Microsoft:

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Imagine that you have a scan of a textbook or work report. Rather than having to manually type out the information, snipping it will return editable text in just one click. Or maybe you're scrolling through your social media feed and come across someone wearing a cool pair of shoes, you can simply snip to find out where to purchase them! Snip Insight can show you relevant information based on what you've just snipped – including identifying famous people, places, or landmarks.

This week's Build 2018 was heavy on AI and machine learning, and Snip Insights is a small taste of what Microsoft's Cognitive Services can do. If you're interested in checking it out, the project is available now on GitHub.

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