Heading to a museum, you'd expect the works on display to have a little bit of background printed next to them to give some context to the work. This is virtually always the case in larger museums, and more often than not in smaller ones. But not all art resides in museums. Things like sculptures and statues - which may be found in places like parks, restaurants, and shops - may not always have the artist properly accredited, let alone an informative paragraph for context.

While that's unlikely to change any time soon, it may not need to. Today, San Francisco-based startup Wescover announced that it would be partnering with Google to bring art to the masses. The latest feature to make its way to Google Lens allows users to point their camera at artwork and have the app recognize it. If Lens successfully recognizes the artwork, it will provide information about the work, similar to what you might find on a plaque in the museum.

Wescover’s co-founder and CEO, Rachely Esman, says: “We’re excited to see the difference our content is making. Each exact match gives creators the credit they deserve and enables consumers with trust to find what they’re looking for.” With over 50,000 images of art in their catalog, Wescover is well-equipped to educate the masses on lesser-known works of art.

That being said, however, most of the art Wescover has documented is confined to San Francisco, so if you're not living there you'll be hard pressed to find art that Google Lens can recognize. Nonetheless, it's yet another promising addition to Lens' ever-growing list of recognizable objects. That list now sits at over 1 billion objects - from chairs to books, and flowers, to celebrities. While it's not as flashy as something like overlaying text on signs, it's another quality-of-life feature that continues to improve Lens.

Google Lens Developer: Google LLC
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Source: Business Wire | Via: Venture Beat