Revolutionary Be My Eyes app connects blind with sighted volunteers

Be My Eyes is a free mobile app that enables low-vision and blind people to connect with sighted volunteers to book visual assistance during a live chat call.

Be My Eyes enables access to a network of sighted volunteers which helps you with a more independent life as well as to company representatives. A sighted volunteer is ready to offer you visually relevant assistance by pressing a button. You can get help at any time of the day or night, from anywhere in the world. This assistance will always be free.

A Danish furniture craftsman who began losing his vision at age 25, today at 50-year-old Hans Jørgen Wiberg, teamed up with a nonprofit startup in Denmark and to bring the app, Be My Eyes, to life.

Customer service representatives using the Specialized Help feature are able to help blind and low-vision users. The system allows people who are blind or have low vision to make more independent lives and boost their mental wellbeing. It is available in more than 150 countries around the world, and in over 180 languages. It is available free of charge for both iOS and Android. Currently has 1,786,051 users and 103,692 blind people.

Applicants who sign up for the program will be notified whenever a person needs assistance. When a person confirms they need assistance, a volunteer will be connected with the subscriber using the video and audio connection.

Singer Bea Miller tweeted about using this app prominently on Thursday. Miller tweeted inquiries to her followers asking whether they use the app.

Get Involved:

The app backed by the Danish Blind Society, Danish software studio Robocat, and the Velux Foundations, and is available to people worldwide. In the App Stores the reviews average out to 4.8 stars out of five and in Google Play they average out to 4.9 out of five.

“Be My Eyes can help tasks, like reading labels or finding the right can on a shelf, become easier.”

Be My Eyes’ impact

Serving as a Be My Eyes volunteer may help blind and visually impaired individuals, without much effort. This app not only helps them but educates both they and sighted individuals about the worth of their assistance, which is frequently taken for granted.

Sources: theconversation.com
thedailybeast.com
theindexproject.org
indiegogo.com
abilitybeyond.org