WASHINGTON— School children usually can count on their parents to helpthem check if their homework is correct. But as students get older and theirassignments get more complex, few parents are qualified to assist them. Atleast for mathematics there is a solution, as a Croatian computer whiz isresponsible for creating an application for solving equations.
Computer programmer and entrepreneur Damir Sabol has created an application usingsmartphone cameras to scan mathematical equations and return results within seconds.But the app, called PhotoMath, does much more than that, he said.
"The students can check the results in their textbooks. They can calculate quickly and getthe result fast, and see whether they did it right or not, but they can also get all the stepsused to solve math problems. So it's not just a matter of getting results, but the wholeprocess of getting to the solution. And we offer the entire process, step by step, alongwith explanations of what is being done. So for someone who is alone with a textbook,who just stares at equations and doesn't know what to do, our app can help them in manycases," said Sabol.
PhotoMath was unveiled at a computer fair in London last October. Sabol said that sincethen, the free application has been downloaded more than 11 million times.
"We hear from mothers who say, 'Finally, I can help my children solve mathematics.' Wehear from teachers who say their entire classroom is using the app," he said.
Meanwhile, the inventor has been working on an upgrade for the successful app.
"We are about to release a new version of the app. First, we will release the Androidversion, which has a much bigger market, and we expect that to be the next element ofgrowth. But not only that, the new version will support much more complex mathproblems, and we believe it will be much more interesting and useful for users, which isalso why we expect the number of users to grow even further," said Sabol.
Sabol's company, MicroBLINK, made a breakthrough in 2012 with its PhotoPayscanning technology used for mobile banking, which scans bills and enables their instantpayment. He said he has no regrets about making PhotoMath free because it has enabledhis company to build a large database. His project has attracted attention from majoreducational companies.
"They see our technology is something that really works in education, and that it issomething children want to use, and they see lots of potential for that. We believe this hasreally huge potential," he said.
Students who prefer electronic gadgets to books do, too.