Discover the New and Improved Observo

Published: 07. November 2025

Dear readers,

As you may know, October is Blind Awareness Month. It is a time to raise awareness, celebrate achievements and promote inclusion for people who are blind or visually impaired. Throughout each October, many events and initiatives take place around the world. They may vary in format and size, but they all share one goal: to make the world a more inclusive place.

At BlindShell, we believe that technology should make life easier and more independent. That belief is what drives us to constantly improve our phones, their features and our apps. And we have great news to share with you. Observo has received an exciting update.

Imagine you are travelling and cannot tell the difference between foreign banknotes. We know that situation well. Even though it is often possible to pay by card, there are still places that prefer cash. You always stay awkwardly and wait for help or try yourself. But it takes a really long time to differentiate. With Observo, you no longer need a second pair of eyes. Simply take a photo and Observo will tell you which banknote you are holding.

It’s this cozy coffee shop scene. A man is sitting at a wooden table, holding some Albanian banknotes and taking a picture of them with his BlindShell phone. There is the phone’s little eye logo on the back. He looks focused, and in the background there’s a smiling barista preparing coffees. The whole place feels warm and relaxed, like one of those quiet cafés on a Saturday morning

Another common situation is sitting in a restaurant abroad where an English menu is not available. Observo can now read the menu out loud and even translate it for you. Is not that exciting?

Our development team has worked hard to make everything simple and intuitive. Once you take a photo or have selected one that is already saved in the image gallery, you can choose from five different modes.

  1. Image description: providing a general overview of what is in the picture.
  2. Text recognition: extracting text from the image, even longer passages.
  3. Color description: identifying the colors of objects in the image.
  4. Banknote recognition: identifying and detecting the value of banknotes.
  5. Translate text: translating written text into your language and reading it aloud.
On a wooden café table, there’s a French menu that says ‘Menu du Marché’ at the top, and next to it lies a BlindShell phone with a magnifying icon glowing on its screen. It looks like someone’s just about to use the phone to read the menu. Kind of a cozy, smart little moment that mixes technology with a bit of Parisian charm.

All of these functions are available in one device and one app. You do not even have to search for Observo on your phone. Simply save it under your favorite apps or ask Luna to open it for you.

We are proud to bring you tools that make everyday life more independent and accessible. Give the new Observo a try and let us know how you like the update.

More About Observo