Instagram has just recently rolled out a new update on its Stories feature that would allow users to add automatic captions to their own videos. The new captions sticker would automatically take what people would say within a video and simply turn it into text. This is so that users will be able to watch even without any sound available.
Instagram New Automatic Caption Feature
Instagram now states that it will soon start testing out the captions sticker in its Reels which is a TikTok competitor. According to the story by CNet, the company notes that users might not always be in places where they can simply listen to the sound of their video in order to see and understand what their friends or other creators are posting.
With the new captions feature, people can now be able to express themselves in somewhat of a more effortless but yet still pretty meaningful way, and their audience can still watch and engage. Accessibility advocates like Tatiana Lee, the model and actress, have actually been calling Instagram out for a long time to provide automatic captions in its Stories.
Technology for the Disadvantaged
The move was done in order to help those with hearing loss or hearing disabilities to still be able to engage with the content online. Some time last year, the Facebook-owned company even launched its AI-powered automatic video captions for its very own IGTV. The company also notes that it is hoping to make captions even more efficient and inclusive as well as easier for everyone to help them watch at ease and understand.
There are currently a growing number of different tech companies that are rolling out this particular feature to expand the accessibility of their platforms. Google, as an example, has just launched the Live Transcribe back in 2019. The Live Transcribe offers some real-time speech to text transcription for those that are either deaf or have difficulty in hearing.
Google Live Caption and Apple People Detection
In March, the search giant reportedly expanded Android's very own Live Caption feature. The feature would automatically generate some real-time captions for media with the use of audio, to its own Chrome browser.
Apple has just released a new People Detection feature just last year which would help those that are blind or those that struggle with low-vision. This feature, of course, is only useful for iPad and iPhone users which helps the users know if there is someone close to them.
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Facebook and Instagram New Feature
Facebook has reportedly worked to improve the photo descriptions for blind as well as visually impared users. This is while the company is also launching some other accessibility features lately just like scalable font sizes as well as other contextual headings.
The auto-captions feature will allow the social media giant to be more accessible to those that either have hearing problems or are in a very inconvenient place to listen to the Instagram Stories. The feature is also very useful for those that might not have the right equipment to listen to Stories.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
