For the estimated 39 million people around the world who are blind, everyday tasks can be more than a challenge. How do you read the expiration date on a milk carton? Or decipher that red sock from the white?
A new app called Be My Eyes aims to make life a little easier for the blind by connecting them with sighted volunteers. These volunteers around the world simply launch a video chat every time the app is activated and the blind person can then point the phone’s camera to the problem. The helper can then guide them verbally along the way.
So if that milk carton has indeed expired, sighted volunteers can guide them in the direction of the refrigerator or help them in real time as they shop for the correct products at the grocery store.
Be My Eyes has already recruited more than 54,000 sighted people to help the blind in day-to-day operations since its launch last Thursday and the numbers are steadily growing. When technology is put to good use, truly beautiful things can happen.
images via Be My Eyes