Remember solving algebra equations in school? Ya, neither do we. It was one of those things you learnt just before the exam, and quickly expunged from your memory afterwards. It was hard, yo. But how different things might have been had we had something like PhotoMath back then. It’s an application that scans an equation on paper by using your smartphone’s camera, and then proceeds to solve it instantly. Not only do you get your answer right away, you get a step-by-step breakdown of the solution. This sort of immediate feedback can help kids know if they’re on the right track as they’re doing their homework, without having to wait until the next day to find out. Of course, that’s assuming they don’t just abuse the damn thing and skip the thinking part altogether, relying on it to get work done rather than to learn anything. Which is exactly what’s going to happen, so we’re not sure how to feel about it. And, in any case, it only solves simple linear algebraic equations, so you can forget about it helping you with your Calculus. And it’s not even out yet, with a “early 2015” target. Still, if you’re curious about it, you can sign up to be notified when it’s ready for download.
PhotoMath from MicroBLINK on Vimeo.
[ Product page ] VIA [ Gizmodo ]