Ontario Tech Researcher Develops LangEye App for Vocabulary Learning
Dr. Mariana Shimabukuro, an Associate Teaching Professor in the Faculty of Science at Ontario Tech University, has developed a smartphone application called LangEye. According to the university, the app is designed to help people learn foreign language vocabulary by identifying objects in photographs taken by users. The application uses artificial intelligence to recognize an object in a user’s photo, then displays the word for the object in the target language. It also provides the definition, an example sentence, and pronunciation for each word.
Ontario Tech University reported that Dr. Shimabukuro presented preliminary research on LangEye at the 2024 International Conference on Computational Linguistics in Austria. In a small study shared by Dr. Shimabukuro, people learning French used the app. Some participants took their own photos, while others used AI-generated images of the same items. According to Dr. Shimabukuro, all participants found LangEye easy to use. She noted that people who used their own photographs reported feeling more connected to their learning experience. Dr. Shimabukuro stated that further research is required to understand how effective LangEye is for long-term vocabulary retention.
LangEye was developed as part of Dr. Shimabukuro’s doctoral research at Ontario Tech University, supervised by Dr. Christopher Collins. Contributions to the project included Deval Panchal, a graduate of the Computer Science program, who worked as research assistant and lead developer, and Shawn Yama, who worked on the early user interface and user experience design.
According to Dr. Shimabukuro, her research group continues to develop projects on the use of artificial intelligence in education. She stated that many educators are interested in using AI in teaching, but that most current tools do not fully align with teaching goals or the ethical standards set by institutions. Her group’s ongoing work includes designing teacher-guided tools intended for both classroom and independent learning.