The 80’s had the Casio calculator watch, while kids in the 90’s had those huge TI 86 calculators. Every decade or so it seems kids find themselves in possession of some new technology that helps them work through math’s toughest riddles but kids never had it so easy as they do now. Take a look at PhotoMath, a new app for smartphones that will not only help you solve mathematical problems, but show you exactly how it was all done.
PhotoMath is a fresh free app for iOS and Windows Phone which is described as the world’s first smart camera calculator. Initially unveiled for Windows Phone devices, the app is now available on iOS, as well, with Android due in early 2015. It’s a little weird why they have decided to go this way, but perhaps it was easier to develop on Windows Phone, who knows.
As easy as taking a photo, the app uses your smartphone’s camera to scan math problems directly from a textbook. You don’t even have to press a button, just hover the viewfinder over the problem and watch and the app provides you with an answer right on the screen. Because an answer is only half the problem, clicking on the forward button will take you through the entire step-by-step process on exactly how to solve a problem, making it more than a quick cheating tool, but a learning one at that. PhotoMath also stores the history of solved problems so you can always go back and double check on something.
For now, PhotoMath only handles math problems that include fractions, decimal numbers, linear equations, and several functions like logarithms. The PhotoMath team says they'll be including support for more-advanced math equations in the future, but for now, it won't get you through your calculus homework.
Question&Answer
Judges: Alice Bentinck (Entrepreneur First), Simon Cook (DFJ Esprit), Aliott Cole (Octopus Ventures), Christophe Maire (Atlantic Labs)
Question: This is very neat. It seems like a plot to get a six-year old to finally get a smartphone. The question that I have is whether that’s the basis for a standalone business.
Answer: We started in the banking sector, we have 14 banks using our technology. We have developed this technology over the past three years, and we are already making money now in the enterprise space.
Question: What is your fundamental breakthrough?
Answer: We created algorithms specifically for mobile devices. We have a product that is called PhotoPay. You scan payment slips. This is the technology that we used to build PhotoMath. PhotoMath goes further when it comes to accuracy and speed. It also showcases our technology.
Question: Does the technology work on static images?
Answer: We use video frames. We combine the OCR results of these consecutive video frames.
Question: Does it work with handwritten text?
Answer: Not yet. It works but it’s quite a difficult problem.
Question: In PhotoMath, does it show the steps to solve an equation?
Answer: Yes, it’s already there.
Question: Are you charging for the technology?
Answer: We provide a free SDK, and depending of the monetization strategy of our partners, it’s a revenue share or a license per year.