Be My Eyes
For people with full vision it only takes a minute to choose the right spices from the shelf, read the expiration date on the milk, or find the right food in the fridge. For blind people these seemingly trivial tasks can often represent tough challenges. Be My Eyes is designed to change that.
Be My Eyes is a new smartphone app that designed to make life easier for the blind by enabling them to handle daily tasks through the help of sighted people in an easy and informal way. The app enables blind people to borrow sighted volunteers’ eyes through a direct video call where the blind can ask for help with a task that requires normal vision. The sighted helper can solve the blind person’s problem by seeing and describing what the blind person is showing through the smartphone’s video camera.
Based on an idea by Hans Jørgen Wiberg, a 50-year old furniture maker, who started to loose his sight at the age of 25, Be My Eyes was created by a team of Danish designers and developers who turned the idea into reality.
The entire concept is built around flexibility. It only takes a few minutes and does not require much effort for busy, modern individuals to assist, making it a great opportunity for sighted people to volunteer. At the same time, it releases blind people from the, sometimes, heavy burden of having to ask apologetically for help in trivial matters.
The app has been tested in the blind community and has received positive feedback. The Danish Association of the Blind sees great potential for the app as a tool for the blind to receive help from volunteers at times where it can be inconvenient to ask neighbours or friends for help.
Be My Eyes is free and available here.
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