Thread: Be My Eyes

Yesterday, my wife was reading a blog from a blind person about how her guide dog trod on some glass and she needed to find out if the dog's feet were cut.

She used an app called Be My Eyes where a sight-impaired person with a smart phone can get assistance from a sighted person anywhere the world (where there's internet or phone reception). The person seeking help can use the phone's camera to "view" something which can be seen by the responding helper.

So my wife downloaded the app. Today she had a call from a blind person in the USA needing to have the cooking instructions read from a pack of food. My wife gave instructions on where to move the phone and how to rotate the pack (he originally had it the wrong way around). It took a few minutes to get the instructions in front of the lens but she was able to read the instructions out to the caller.

We have some small involvement with the blind by looking after guide dogs but I hadn't thought of these issues - even though my father is blind and my wife's mother went blind before she died.

So, I've now added the app to my phone and I urge you to consider it, too. See http://www.bemyeyes.org/

Originally Posted by digger

But............... Just to be clear, if a blind person contacts you and asks you to select an
item for them to buy -- will you disclose your uncanny ability to select faulty goods or just
be quiet about it????

Hell's Bells, Nigel! I hadn't thought about that!