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I am looking for a free Android app that lets me configure any number of strings (texts) along with a custom note. The app should recognize the texts from the camera via OCR and display the appropriate note. All of this should happen locally.

Being able to copy the configured string->note list from one device to another (file transfer, via USB) is a plus. Configuring the list via a GUI is not strictly necessary, I'm also fine with just putting a handwritten Json file at some specific place.

Background/use case: I, in a place that uses Latin script, am expecting visitors who are not able to read Latin script. To enable them to find their way back, I would like to provide them with a means of scanning some important bus stop names and other signs and get an explanation about those signs that I configured beforehand, without them needing to use data roaming or a local SIM card.

EDIT: Steve Barnes' answer made me aware of another possible issue: Quite some of that location-finding might be happening underground, where GPS is only of minor quality or unavailable.

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Since you seem reasonably tech savvy you could probably cobble something together using the Android port of OpenCV 3 to recognize various features and display the note but you would probably be better off using an If This Then That recipe based on the GPS position and displaying, in the users language, text saying "Look for this" and an image of the bus stop, etc.

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  • Well, if no ready-made app exists, I am considering modifying the public source code of this app, if only by hard-coding the messages to display based on the recognized strings (maybe while allowing for a low non-zero Levenshtein distance to accommodate for some recognition inaccuracies). An existing app would probably be more reliable and well-designed, though. ...
    – O. R. Mapper
    Jun 14, 2015 at 16:14
  • ... As for the If-This-Then-That website you mention, I will have to look into that; it seemed rather complicated at first glance, apparently relying on a set of cryptic symbols, but I'll try it. It does seem to rely a lot on webservices, though, which might conflict with my requirement for the solution to work without an internet connection. I'm going to wait for a while before I accept any answer, in case someone can provide some more concrete hint; +1 for now.
    – O. R. Mapper
    Jun 14, 2015 at 16:15

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