Released in 2017, Google Lens is an image recognition technology that identifies objects and display information about them using Google Search. Google Lens singles out items using artwork, text, and other distinctive features, and then searches the Internet to find matches. Google Lens can be used with your smartphone’s camera to identify real-life objects. It can also be used to identify things on your screen using screen capture.

Google Lens is accessed through the free app for iOS and Android, the default camera app on compatible Android devices, or through Google Assistant by selecting the Lens icon and asking “Ok Google, what is on my screen?”

Google Lens is the successor to Google Goggles, an app that was released in 2009 and discontinued shortly after the release of Google Lens.

Artificial intelligence terms, Camera, Camera terms, OCR (optical character recognition), Phone terms, Software terms

  • The official Google Lens website.