This Incredible App Allows Users To Help A Blind Person By ‘Being Their Eyes’
Nowadays there’s an app for almost everything.
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Whether you’re looking for relationship advice or you just want to get stuff delivered from one place to the other, you can find an app for the purpose.
However, there’s an app which seriously helps people out there. And not just some ordinary people, we’re talking about blind folks here.
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Known as Be My Eyes, this app allows strangers to help visibly impaired persons by actually becoming their eyes.
Taking to Twitter, one person shared how incredible this app was. “So I downloaded this app called ‘Be my eyes’ awhile ago,” user @Elsmoove_ wrote.
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“You get FaceTime calls from blind people all over the world & help them with whatever task it is that they need help w/. I just got my first call & helped this lady pick out almond milk. Something so small made her day.”
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Launched in 2015, the app has made the world a lot more accessible to the blind and low vision people.
It boasts an incredible two million users who voluntarily help more than 136,000 visually impaired folks across the globe.
Its working is very simple: a blind person starts a video call which is picked by a sighted user from any place around the world.
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The most common tasks which visually impaired folks need help with include identifying the expiration date of an item, reading labels on products, and locating lost or dropped items.
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Since there are more than 2,000,000 volunteers ready to assist just 136,000 people, the former only get calls once in a blue moon. However, the people seeking help get a response in just a couple of seconds.
The helpful app was first proposed by Hans Jørgen Wiberg who is himself visually impaired.
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Wiberg came up with the incredible idea after one of his blind friends told him how he used video calls from his friends and family to get help with petty tasks.
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The idea was then presented at a Danish startup event, and it was soon converted into an app which unites one of the biggest networks of volunteers.
“It’s my hope that by helping each other as an online community, Be My Eyes will make a big difference in the everyday lives of blind people all over the world,” the app’s founder said.
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An incredible 10,000 users joined the app just on the first day of its launch.
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According to the app’s website, the visually impaired people commonly use the app to locate lost or dropped items, find out the departure or arrival time of public transport, distinguish between food items, familiarize themselves with new places, identify the expiry dates on food products, and read labels on household items.
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The app is also used by people for getting help with shopping in supermarkets, reading on computer screens if their screen readers aren’t available, matching the colors of their clothes, and describing paintings, pictures or other kinds of artwork.
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Be My Eyes is equally loved by both the helpers and the helpees alike. Here’s what its users had to say about it: