Be My Eyes App: Become the Eyes for Someone Who Needs Them

A new non-profit app, Be My Eyes, helps visually impaired people connect with people who are ready to help them with their daily routine via live video.

Do you want to help someone? Now you can become the eyes of someone who really needs them.

The non-profit Be My Eyes app helps blind people by connecting them with people who are ready to help with their daily activities via live video link. The application asks the user if they’re looking for a volunteer or if they came over to help someone. If you want to help, just sign up for the app as a volunteer. The request can be anything from helping to understand which of the two cans to put on the shelf, to identify a road sign in an unfamiliar area, and so on. During a call, a blind person will show and tell you via video what exactly they need help with.

Be My Eyes Use Cases

• Search for lost items;
• Description of photographs, paintings or other pieces of art;
• Matching or describing colors;
• Reading shortcuts;
• Solving computer problems;
• Shopping;
• Determining the shelf life of products;
• Getting to know a new environment or navigating to a new place;
• Identifying differences between items;
• Determining the arrival and departure of public transport.

More than 3 million volunteers and over 220 thousand visually impaired users have registered for the app so far! The project is currently active in 150 countries and is available in 180 languages.

The app was invented by Hans Jørgen Wiberg, a visually impaired person. Danish software studio Robocat helped him turn the idea into reality.