Source: Finance Association

On Wednesday morning local time,$Apple (AAPL.US)$As is usual, before Global Accessibility Day (May 16), a number of new accessibility features that will soon be unveiled “later this year” — that is, new accessibility features that will soon be unveiled in the new iOS 18 system.

Although this batch of early spoilers is basically barrier-free, as Apple is about to enter the AI era this year, many features have already revealed the tail of “fruit-style AI” ahead of time.

According to Apple's announcement, this batch of features include allowing users to control iPhones and iPads with just their eyes, use tactile engines to experience music, reduce motion sickness through vehicle motion reminders, and set voice shortcuts. At the same time, the “personal voice” function will also support Mandarin.

Eye tracking is possible without external hardware

Apple revealed that after the new feature is launched, users only need a pair of eyes to operate iPhones and iPads.

It should be noted that Apple has previously supported eye tracking in iOS and iPadOS, but an additional eye tracking device is required. The new feature only requires users to use the front camera and uses artificial intelligence to determine what the user is looking at and what kind of gestures they want to perform, such as swiping and clicking. There's also a feature called “Gaze Control,” which indicates that when users gaze at a point, they want to select that point.

Custom voice shortcuts

“Vocal Shortcuts” (Vocal Shortcuts) is another new feature that is likely to get a lot of attention. Users can set custom words to Siri, then trigger preset shortcuts with their voice. Here's an assumption. Next, users may be able to preset the phrase “off work” to Siri, and then let the phone automatically open the check-in app.

Apple also revealed that it will launch a feature called listening to atypical voices this time, using machine learning to identify unique speech patterns. This is a feature developed for users facing language risks such as stroke or fever.

Apple also revealed that previously it only supported the “personal voice function” in English — use your own voice to create a realistic synthetic sound, and will soon support Mandarin. This feature is designed to help users with voice difficulties communicate with family and friends.

Vision Pro ushered in full-system real-time captioning

Another useful feature is Apple Vision Pro's upcoming full-system “real-time captioning” function, which can convert live conversations and communication in the app's audio into subtitles in real time. Vision Pro will also add the ability to use the window bar to move captions during immersive videos.

Apple also revealed that updates to visual accessibility features will include adding “reduce transparency,” “smart reverse,” and “reduce flickering lights” for use by users with low eyesight or who want to avoid strong light and frequent flickering.

Can it also reduce motion sickness?

Next, Apple will also launch a new feature for iPhones and iPads aimed at reducing motion sickness.

Apple said that motion sickness is usually caused by sensory conflict between what people see and what they actually feel, so by showing some moving points on the edge of the screen, sensory conflict can be reduced while avoiding affecting text display. Apple devices can automatically identify whether the user is in a sports car, and this function can also be turned on and off through the control center.

There's more...

In Wednesday's announcement, Apple also revealed a number of other features.

For example, millions of songs in Apple Music are equipped with a “music feel,” and the iPhone also provides different vibrations as the music is played. This functionality will also be provided to developers as an API.

In addition, CarPlay will also introduce voice control, color filtering of the operation interface for colorblind users, and notification functions that can recognize car horns and alarm sounds.

editor/tolk