Bixby is your AI-powered virtual assistant for Samsung smartphones and devices. In this video, we're going to explore how Bixby can be used to make your phone easier to use, and talk about some accessibility-specific features, such as Bixby Vision.
This video was produced by the American Foundation for the Blind as a work product for Samsung Electronics.
Setting up Bixby is simple. Just press and hold the power button until Bixby activates.
Bixby: Welcome to Bixby. You can talk to me any time by saying "Hi, Bixby"
Narrator: If you haven't already logged into your phone with a Samsung account, you'll receive a prompt to do so now in order to continue. Once you're logged in and have accepted the terms and conditions, you'll be on the Bixby home screen. Now you're ready to use Bixby from anywhere on your phone. Just press and hold the Bixby key while you say a command. For example, "Set a timer for 5 minutes"
Bixby: Five Minutes and Counting on your timer
Narrator: You can also ask questions "How long is the Brooklyn Bridge"
Bixby: The Brooklyn Bridge is 6,016 feet long
Narrator: For some types of commands, Bixby may need to ask you what service it should use, and sometimes it may need permission as well. This is only for the first time you use it. For example,
"What's the weather like today in San Francisco" Bixby: I found some capsules in the Marketplace. Which capsule would you like to add?
Narrator: The Weather Channel
Bixby: Adding The Weather Channel. Do you agree to provide Location data to The Weather Channel to process requests?
Narrator: Agree
Bixby: Today in San Francisco, California, it is partly cloudy with a high of 68 degrees and a low of 55 degrees.
Narrator: You can also enable voice wake-up. You can do that from the Bixby settings menu, or just tell Bixby "go to voice wake-up settings." Enable the setting, and go through the process of training Bixby to your voice. Once this is done, you can activate Bixby just by saying "Hi, Bixby" and then saying your command.
By the way, Bixby works great with TalkBalk, the Android screen reader. Everything we have covered will work great with TalkBack enabled, too.
In fact, if you are using accessibility features on your phone, Bixby can make it much more efficient to accomplish certain tasks. Some commands that may be useful are, "Take a photo", "Send a message to Kristin that I'm on my way home", "What's a 20% tip on 50 dollars", "Set an alarm for 5 AM", "How do you spell Fibonacci"
Having shortcuts like this can really speed up getting important information or accessing features, like the camera, faster, so you're less likely to miss out on an important moment.
You can also connect supported smart-home devices and control them with Bixby. Control lights, thermostats, appliances, and other devices through voice commands. Once everything is configured, you can just tell Bixby "Set my thermostat to 72 degrees." You can learn more about this in the Samsung SmartThings app.
You'll find a lot of suggestions and trending topics for how you can use Bixby on the Bixby home screen. Many of the apps you already use may have "Capsules", which extend Bixby's functionality. You can browse the capsule Marketplace by selecting it from the Bixby home screen, or simply asking Bixby to "Open the marketplace"
Perhaps one of the most useful features of Bixby is the ability to change settings, including accessibility features, just by asking. Try out some of these commands:
"Increase the font size",
Bixby: Alright, the font size is now 4.
Narrator: "Turn on magnification",
Bixby: "Here's where you can change magnification settings"
Narrator: "Turn on TalkBack",
Bixby: I'll need your confirmation to turn this on. Do you want to continue?
Narrator: "Yes"
Bixby: "I turned TalkBack on"
Narrator: This can make it simple to enable or disable features as you need them, and there's no need to go through the settings menu.
Another great feature is Bixby dictation.
Let's say I was typing out an email to a colleague using the on screen keyboard, but then I realize I'd rather just speak out the message. Once you're on any text input field on your phone, you can just press and hold the Bixby button to start dictating. You can start using dictation at any time, in any app, as long as the keyboard is showing. Finally, there is Bixby Vision. This feature uses the camera to tell you about the world around you.
"Hi Bixby, open Bixby Vision"
You can switch the mode by swiping left and right. If you're running TalkBack, swipe left or right with two fingers. Bixby Vision can perform searches based on what it sees, translate text, identify wines, and more, all through the camera. However, it also has some great accessibility features as well that can help someone who is blind or low vision. I'll open the settings menu in the top right of the screen. Here you can switch different modes on or off, but if you go into the Accessibility modes option, you can enable different features. Currently, Bixby Vision supports Scene describer, Object Identifier, Text Reader, and color detector.
Scene describer will provide a description of what it sees. If you have an old photo, for example, and you want an idea of what's in it, you could use scene describer.
Bixby: A cat lying on a rug
Narrator: Object identifier works very similarly, except it will continually identify objects and you move the camera around.
Text reader will read out text that it sees. If you have a paper flier, or an envelope, for example, that you want to quickly read, you can have this mode read it out to you
And the last feature is a color identifier. When this mode is running, Bixby will tell you approximately what color the camera is looking at.
Bixby: Forest Green, Purple
Narrator: This could be used to distinguish between shirts of different colors, for example
Bixby is a powerful virtual assistant with a long list of features. You can explore the Bixby app for more ideas about how you could use it to make your phone easier to use. There are dedicated accessibility features on your Samsung smart devices as well, and if you're interested you can find more information at afb.org/samsung for more videos.
Hi Bixby, go to the website afb.org/samsung
Bixby: Okay, here you go
© 2021 Samsung Electronics America, Incorporated. Samsung, Galaxy, Galaxy S20, and Galaxy Z Flip are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Company, limited. Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG Incorporated. Other company names, product names and marks are the property of their respective owners. This device and related software are not intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease. Screen images simulated; application sequences shortened. Appearance of the device may vary. The information contained in this video was current as of May 15th, 2021.
