Sighted People Can Now Help the Blind with ‘Be My Eyes’ iOS App

Be My Eyes is a brand new app for iPhone and iPad, that allows blind people to request remote help from a sighted person when needed. As the National Federation of the Blind said last year, Apple has indeed done more for accessibility than any other company, and with the help of this app, iOS owners can take things even further (via 9to5Mac).

Sighted people who are willing to lend a hand install the app and will then get alerts when help is requested. Requests for help might range from checking the expiry date on a container of milk to looking at an airport departure board for a gate number. And if a user is too busy to help, the request is automatically rotated through sighted users until one of them accepts.

Below is the official iTunes description:

Be the eyes for a blind person in need of help remotely through a live video connection if you are sighted or be assisted by the network of sighted users if you are blind.

Be My Eyes is all about contributing to and benefiting from small acts of kindness, so hop on board and get involved!

Blind users can request help from a sighted person and the sighted users will then be called for help. As soon as the first sighted user accepts the request for help a live audio-video connection will be set up between the two and the sighted user can tell the blind person what she sees when the blind user points his phone at something using the rear-facing camera.

As a sighted user you don’t need to worry about missing a call and ‘leave a blind person hanging’ – you are a part of the bigger Be My Eyes helper-network and we will find the next available sighted person in the network. The challenges that the blind person needs help with can be anything from knowing the expiry date on the milk to navigating new surroundings.

Note: We encourage blind users to be patient when requesting help because we rely on real people to help you.

• Live audio-video connection between blind and sighted users
• Add the languages you know under settings
• An easy way you can make a difference for blind people

The universal app is available as a free download at the following App Store link:

Download Be My Eyes for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad [Direct Link]