The best way to introduce Microsoft Cognitive Services is to see how it can be used in action. Microsoft, and others, has created a lot of example applications, to show off the capabilities. Several may be seen as silly, such as the How-Old.net (http://how-old.net/) image analysis and the what if I were that person application. These applications have generated quite some buzz, and they show off some of the APIs in a good way.
The one demonstration that is truly inspiring though, is the one featuring a visually impaired person. Talking computers inspired him to create an application to allow blind and visually impaired people to understand what is going on around them. The application has been built upon Microsoft Cognitive Services. It gives a good idea of how the APIs can be used to change the world, for the better. Before moving on, head over to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2mC-NUAmMk and take a peek into the world of Microsoft Cognitive Services.
