Google Lens looks to get more useful with improvements and AR experiences

As a Pixel 2 XL owner, I think that Google Lens is a fun, if experimental and temperamental, feature that I don’t go out of my way to use. Of course, the feature is still in its infancy, and Google knows that too, since Google Lens engineering lead Rajan Patel teased additional functionality that should further its usefulness.

Responding to an inquiry by Android Police on Twitter, Patel said that the folks behind Lens are working on an “amazing” and new OCR (optical character recognition) model. This should help Lens work better under the hood and identify text better.

Patel also said that the team is working to improve how Lens recognizes more natural objects like flora and fauna, as well as improve how Lens recognizes stuff you might want to buy, such as home goods and apparel. The latter will come as a welcome feature, seeing how Lens currently can’t do that, but Google will likely tie that into Google’s existing Shopping feature.

Finally, Patel teased that Lens will incorporate augmented reality experiences. We do not know to what capacity Lens will incorporate such experiences, though we doubt they will be as simple as Google’s recently-released AR stickers. Even so, you can imagine Google doing something like AR information cards popping up when Lens recognizes objects to better facilitate comparisons and purchases.

Patel didn’t say anything else as far as features are concerned, nor did he say when we might see these improvements. He also didn’t say when we might see Lens on other phones, seeing how it is a Pixel-exclusive for the time being.

Even so, it’s nice to see Google continue to work on Lens and make all the necessary improvements in the backend. Let us know in the comments how your experience with Lens has been so far and what you hope Google can improve on in future updates.