In its Pixel 7 announcement event, Google debuted a new way to help blind and nearly blind people better frame their photos.
For visually impaired individuals, taking a selfie isn’t a simple task, at least not on most devices. Today, Google, Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 pro, which include improved accessibility features, such as Guided Frame, a tool that coaches users on how to position themselves for the perfect “smart selfie.
Guided Frame helps users frame themselves in the phone’s camera through voice cues and AI-powered motion-detecting software. The voice helps direct users on where to move the camera, and starts counting down once a face is in frame. At the end of the countdown, Pixel takes a photo automatically. In addition to auditory cues, the feature uses haptic feedback, otherwise known as 3D touch, and high-contrast animations to assist users with selfie-taking.
event to applause from the crowd. Guided Frame is part of Google’s stated mission to “build a more equitable experience across our camera.” According to the announcement, Real Tone, a tool Google released last year to render darker skin tones more accurately, has been updated as well. It can now better adjust for dark skin tones in low-light photo situations with the Pixel 7.
This isn’t Google’s first step towards accessibility for visually impaired people, either. Guided Frame is only the most recent addition to Google’s apps for visually impaired accessibility. Their app,, which has been expanded to additional Android devices since it first debuted in 2019, can detect what’s in a camera’s frame and describe it. Lookout can be used to read labels on food packaging and paper currency amounts in US dollars, Indian Rupees, and Euros.