Automatic image occlusion flashcards: the secret weapon in your studies

Imagine this: You're staring at a complex anatomy diagram full of different text and labels. Each part feels important, but memorizing them sounds like a near-impossible challenge. 😰

Flashcards have long been a popular tool used by medical students. They allow you to condense large amounts of information into a bite-sized format — perfect for quick reviews and self-testing. But traditional flashcards can feel limiting, especially when dealing with complex visuals and endless terms.

Here’s where image occlusion enters the picture. It is a powerful flashcard tool that transforms visual information into active learning. ⚡

What are image occlusion flashcards?

Instead of hiding text within a paragraph, image occlusion lets you cover selected portions of a diagram. This forces your brain to recall the missing information, making the learning process more active and engaging.

Why are image occlusion flashcards so effective?

Here's why image occlusion flashcards help you retain more information:

Boost memorization for visual learners

‍Research suggests that a large portion, around 65%, of the population learns best visually. Visual learning is particularly important in medical school, where many subjects, such as anatomy or biochemistry, rely heavily on images. Image occlusion supports visual learning and helps students retain complex diagrams and their components better. 👁️

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Active recall vs. passive review

‍Traditional flashcards often involve passively reviewing pre-written information. Image occlusion flips the script, prompting students to actively recall details from images. This active process strengthens memory and improves long-term retention. 🚀

Improve focus and attention

‍By selectively hiding parts of the image, you force yourself to concentrate on specific areas. This targeted focus leads to deeper understanding and reduces the chance of feeling overwhelmed by complex visuals. 🔍

From paper to AI: How image occlusion flashcards have evolved

Image occlusion flashcards have been around for ages, but creating them used to be a real pain. Back in the day, people used physical flashcards and covered up parts of a diagram with cut-out pieces of paper. 

Then came digital tools like Anki, where you can create them by manually selecting the words you want to hide and then drawing rectangles around them. Other flashcard apps like Quizlet currently do not offer image occlusion.

While it’s a great feature of Anki, it can be time-consuming, especially if you have a lot of images. Imagine you have hundreds of complex diagrams to turn into flashcards. Hiding specific words could take days! 

This is what we wanted to solve in Voovo. Using AI, we developed an automatic system that lets you create image occlusion flashcards in seconds! Let’s see how. 👇

Voovo take image occlusion one step further with AI

Thanks to incorporating AI into image occlusion feature, Voovo automates the things you'd otherwise have to do manually:

Automatic Text Recognition (OCR)

‍Simply upload your image, and using AI, the Voovo app automatically identifies and extracts text boxes, so you don’t have to type out labels. 

Smart selection tools‍

Voovo allows you to easily select all the text boxes you want to study with a single click. Plus, control how much information is hidden on each flashcard for optimal learning.

Advanced scanning

‍Is the image blurry or has a strange layout? No problem! Voovo can run different AI algorithms to detect the text accurately.

Another bonus point is that you can always fine-tune the selection (more on that below)! To learn more about Voovo’s image occlusion feature, check out this video: 

A step-by-step guide for powerful flashcards with Voovo’s image occlusion feature

1. Upload any image you want 🫀

Need to learn the parts of the heart or the brain? Upload any anatomy diagram. Or are you studying a complex biochemical cycle? No problem, you can just add the image from your saved photos or camera roll or drag and drop them straight from your textbooks, note-taking apps, or PDFs.

2.  Let Voovo automatically detect the text 📝

Our advanced AI scans your image and automatically detects all the text elements. This includes labels, names, and any other important information within the image. If the initial scan isn't perfect, don't worry! Simply tap the "Retry Scan" button and our system will try a different text recognition algorithm to ensure accuracy.

3. Customize your flashcards 🧬

Once the text is identified, you can choose which specific elements you want to turn into flashcards. Do you want to focus on just the labels of anatomical structures? You can select them all with a single click. 

You can also control the level of difficulty by choosing how much information to hide on each flashcard. You can cover single terms, entire sections, or even combine elements for a more challenging review. 

Hundreds of personalized flashcards — with one click

Image occlusion flashcards are a game-changer for medical students and anyone preparing for complex exams that rely on visuals. 

With Voovo’s automatic image occlusion system, you can create hundreds of flashcards from your visual resources with a few clicks, so you can have a personalized set of flashcards ready to help you prepare for even the most difficult subjects!

You can download Voovo from the App Store or Google Play. 

Good luck & have a great study session — you've got this! 💪

The Voovo team