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If you’re looking for a very easy way to do good in the world and make a difference in people’s lives, be sure to check out the app Be My Eyes. Many people want to help others but don’t have the time or opportunity to do so. Be My Eyes lets you help blind people all over the world and gives you that feel-good feeling with minimal time and effort on your part.
Be My Eyes is brought to us by Hans Jørgen Wiberg and Thelle Kristensen, Danish developers who are offering the services of the app free. The app helps blind people deal with daily issues of life by connecting them with sighted people who are willing to help. Users access video chat in the app so sighted people can identify objects for people who are visually impaired.
This video shows you how Be My Eyes works:
Here are some examples of ways sighted people using the app can help blind people.
By:
- Reading a street sign
- Reading the expiration date on a milk carton
- Seeing whether lights are on or off in a room
- Seeing whether a can is filled with soup or dog food
- Reading a number on an apartment door
Using the App
The app works on iPhone 4S and later models. You can download the app from the iTunes App Store here: Be My Eyes App. The app is free to download and free to use.
[note]Adding an Android version of the app is a goal of the team. Sign up here to be alerted when/if the app is launched on Android: Be My Eyes Android version [/note]
After you download the app you identify yourself as a blind or sighted person. As a sighted person, you watch a video showing you how you can help blind people by using the app, giving you added incentive to sign up for Be My Eyes.
For those who identify as blind, the app automatically activates the VoiceOver accessibility feature of the iPhone.
You’re asked to register an account with Be My Eyes, using either email or Facebook. The app also requests access to your camera and microphone so you can connect with others using the app. You’re also asked to allow notifications for the app so you can be alerted to requests. You need to allow all three when prompted so the app can work properly.
You register for languages you speak to help connect you with blind people around the world who speak your language(s). The app is currently available in: English, Bokmål, Norwegian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Nynorsk, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.
[tip]Don’t have an iPhone but want to help anyway? You can volunteer to help translate the app into different languages. Check out the list of languages that need translations for the app.[/tip]
As a helper you can gain points for watching the video and sharing the app with others on Facebook and Twitter. You also earn points for helping others so you can “level up”. The points as well as a rating system by both sighted and blind users assist in identifying the best helpers.
Those who believe in the good of humanity can point to the large number of people willing to help others using this app: the app was launched only last week and has immediately become successful. A running counter at the Be My Eyes website shows registrations of nearly 70,000 sighted users plus over 5,000 blind users, with more than 11,000 instances of the app helping people.
With so many sighted users signing up to help, you may have to wait a while to get a request if you’re sighted. If you’re blind, you should be able to get connected with a helper quickly.
If you get a request but can’t help at that time, you can pass and let another helper take that one. With thousands of helpers available through the app, you don’t have to feel guilty in taking a pass when the request comes at an inconvenient time. But you can still feel good about signing up for this app and offering to help others around the world.
Your Thoughts
Do you like the idea of sighted people helping blind people around the world? Will you be signing up for Be My Eyes? Do you know anyone who could be helped by Be My Eyes? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Hi Carolyn,
That was informative indeed 🙂
I didn’t know they had created such an app, where the sighted lots could help the blind too, and even the blind would find this as a blessing for sure.
I’d be checking this one in a while but first I must tag and share this with two blind friend’s I know, and I think you too might be knowing them – Maxwell and Kerry – you can never say how it might help them, so passing this one along for them mainly and more of their friend’s who might find it of use.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, Yes, I thought of Maxwell when I heard about this app and I wanted to write about the app immediately to help spread the word to him and others who might benefit from it. This app is such a brilliant idea and so well executed, my favorite kind of app to cover here at The Wonder of Tech!
Thank you so very much for sharing this article. You always are so wonderful about sharing articles, Harleena, but I especially appreciate your efforts to share this one. The more people who know about Be My Eyes the better!
Hi Carolyn; just had to stop reading emails and come check out this post right away. You are so sweet for sharing this. I’m impressed by the app and their goals. and I’m even a bit surprised that there are so many more sighted signed up than blind users. i have actually eaten a spoon full of dog food by mistake. we had a terror at the time and her food came in small cans like tuna cans and i was hungry. not proud of it but not ashamed either. lol wonder if the people who wrote the app would consider a second one to match up blind people with sighted drivers? well i just had to ask. You have done a good thing today my friend sharing this app. Just shows why you are it when it comes to all things tech. take care sweetie, max
Hi Maxwell, Thank you for your kind words. I thought of you immediately when I found out about this app. A Wonder of Tech reader alerted me to this app and I’m so glad she did. This app has the potential to make a big difference in a lot of lives around the world.
I was so impressed by how many people have signed up for Be My Eyes in the first week of launch. I hope the success of the app continues and that word of it spreads widely. The fact that the app is available in so many different languages is fantastic too. That also increases the potential for helping people around the world.
Wow, I can completely understand how that would happen with dog food. If you can’t read the labels on a can you would have no idea what’s inside. But Be My Eyes can solve that problem.
I’ve signed up but haven’t received any requests yet. I do look forward to helping out if I have the opportunity.
I hope you enjoy using the app, Maxwell, but you probably shouldn’t use it to try to drive, my friend! 😉
hi carolyn; yes the number of languages is impressive. and it shows the designer knows their stuff. blind people living in the middle east and latin america receive far less in the way of services. so they would need more help. thanks to your wonder of tech member too then. take care, max
Hi Maxwell, Yes, one of the developers has impaired vision so he brought a valuable perspective to the design of the app.
Good point, whether you live in a large metropolitan area or in a remote village on the side of a mountain, you can get assistance so long as you have access to an iPhone and the Internet.
Thank you for sharing your valuable thoughts with us here, Maxwell!
was my pleasure to take part in the conversation and to share your post about a valued new app. not surprised one of the developers is blind. just wish that android phones also offered speech like the iPhone does right out of the box and that people were designing more of these apps for android and my laptop. thanks again and take care, max
Yes, Maxwell, the more people who have access to Be My Eyes the better. I hope that everyone will be able to use this service at some point.
This is an awesome app! Thank you for writing about it and kudos to the developers for thinking of a new and exciting way to help the disabled. I have signed up for the Android version of Be My Eyes, hopefully they will go ahead with it.
Hi Silke, I’m glad you’re as excited about this app as I was when I heard about it. I was thrilled to learn about the app and couldn’t wait to cover it so Wonder of Tech readers could learn about it too and spread the word about it.
I hope the developers are able to launch an Android version of Be My Eyes. The more people who have access to this awesome app, the better for everyone!
My sister in law just told me yesterday that her vision has deteriorated to the point where she only sees shadows. I am going to send this to her and see if it it something that can help her. She is a snowbird, traveling to Florida soon and travel is difficult for her in many small ways. This might just be the answer. Thanks.
Hi Lenie, Yes, if someone is experiencing vision impairment for the first time, they may not have adapted to a new lifestyle to cope with their challenges. This app can certainly help people who are struggling with their daily lives and give them not only assistance but also the confidence that they can overcome their challenges.
Lenie, I appreciate you sharing this article with your sister-in-law and I’m thinking she’ll appreciate it too!
Hey Carolyn,
This is SO cool, I love this idea.
Of course Max has already commented and I would think that he would be the one that would let us know how truly beneficial this could really be.
I can’t imagine what life is like for him on a daily basis but it sounds like a lot of people are signing up for this which is a really great show of support. Can’t wait to see how this takes off.
Another great share, thank you so much and enjoy your week.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Yes, I thought of Maxwell right away when a reader told me about this app. I couldn’t wait to share it with him and other Wonder of Tech readers who either need help or want to help others.
How wonderful that this app already so many users already. The number of helpers has grown to over 85,000 since I published this article yesterday, a 20% increase of over 15,000 folks who want to help. I know some of those 15,000 are Wonder of Tech readers who have generously volunteered and signed up for Be My Eyes. Okay, not all of the 15,000 new users are Wonder of Tech readers, but still, what a fantastic expansion of their app!
Thanks so much for sharing your comment here, Adrienne, and for spreading the word about Be My Eyes!
Hi Carolyn,
Glad to be back here. I have a lot of issues to think about recently. It is time consuming for me. I’m sorry for my delay to be here again. 🙂
Well, Does this app really exist?
Wow, it’s really great if the app could really help the blind. I will share this article. That’s what I can do to make the information on this application can be spread.
Thanks for sharing this great information, Carolyn.
All the best for you! 🙂
Regards,
Nanda
Hi Nanda, Yes, not only does this app really exist, but it is growing exponentially every day. The number of users is expanding at a tremendous rate as more people are learning about the app and signing up to help others.
The more people who find out about this app the better. Thank you so very much for sharing, Nanda. I’m so glad you are back here at The Wonder of Tech. I hope your issues are resolved now and that life in 2015 brings you much peace and joy!
Hello Carolyn Nicander Mohr,
Carolyn it is such a great app, i have signed up with be my eyes app, thanks for sharing such a great article with us and i hear about this app first time and found that it is such a great way to helped the disabled.
warm regards
kapil heera
Hi Kapil, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m so glad you signed up for Be My Eyes. I hope you have the opportunity to help many people around the world!
Hi Carolyn,
Wow, that’s fantastic. I love that app.
What they can’t do this days!
I have no doubt that technology is going to help people with handicaps more and more. I feel that sky is the limit!
Thank you for sharing this and nice to see you again.
I’ll try to visit more often.
~Sylviane
Hi Sylviane, Yes, a Wonder of Tech reader alerted me to Be My Eyes and I couldn’t wait to share it with my readers. I hope this app helps many people around the world.
Thanks so much for your comment and for sharing this post, Sylviane!