British Council didn't need yet another ad campaign. It needed a useful idea.

By re-purposing a piece of technology built primarily for mobile-commerce, the Visual Dictionary app was created to aid students and potential students improve their vocabulary.

Simply by taking a picture of any object, the app uses visual search technology to tell you what it is. Recognizing nearly 40 million images, the app instantaneously syncs with the Cambridge dictionary to provide the user with the respective meaning and pronunciation.

Snap a picture and improve your vocabulary instantly. It was that easy.

During the initial test phase with the current batch of students at the British Council, the results were highly encouraging.

In just two weeks, a total of 303,753 words were searched on the Visual Dictionary app. This averages out to about 250 new English words taught to a student - a tall order to achieve with just in-class learning.

With every student now armed with this innovative, real-time mobile tool, the Visual Dictionary helped overcome one of the language’s biggest hurdle, thanks in large part to identify an existing student behaviour, utilizing data, and the mobility of a real-time experience.