A blind person can develop an extraordinary level of independence, even greater than that achieved by many people with intact vision. Yet, there are times when the world places obstacles in the way of that independence. To overcome them, there is Be My Eyes, an iPhone app that aims to connect blind people with volunteers willing to lend their eyes for a while to solve all kinds of problems.
The everyday challenges of blindness
These days, almost every food product includes details like basic nutritional information, as well as its expiration date. For us, interpreting that information requires a simple glance, but blind people must deal with the unknown differently. Now, a food package is relatively harmless, but imagine a much more delicate item, such as a medication. I've taken many pills in my life, and I still haven't come across a box that has its name in Braille (I know they exist, but I've never found them). To be honest, a blind person can't even read the prescription or the instructions they received from the doctor without help. Technology has proven to be an excellent resource for overcoming these challenges, and today it gives us another ally.
How does Be My Eyes work?
Be My Eyes is something like half app, half social network, whose goal is to provide a platform where a blind person can request assistance thanks to the combination of VoiceOver and video call features on compatible iOS devices (iPhone 4S and later). The official launch of Be My Eyes was last Thursday, and since then more than fifty thousand people have registered as volunteers, of which four thousand have already helped blind people almost nine thousand times. To prevent abuse, both the blind user and the volunteer have the ability to rate their interaction or report any problem, and those with inappropriate behavior will be automatically excluded from the service.
What's next?
For now, the Be My Eyes app is compatible with iPhone only, but plans to develop versions for Android and Windows Phone remain firm. In fact, Be My Eyes is open source, and any code rider who thinks they can develop a build for another platform is more than welcome. If we follow what is published on its FAQ, the use of Be My Eyes will be free until next September, and from that point on, it will most likely adopt a subscription model. The idea is excellent, and if the final price is right, I'm sure Be My Eyes won't disappear into the void.
