Anyone who has not yet done voluntary work can now do so comfortably from the sofa and use the app "Be My Eyes" register. The free universal app, whose name could be translated as “Be my eyes”, basically mediates connections between the visually impaired and sighted people. You register as a user and classify yourself as a helper (“I am sighted”) or a blind person (“I am blind”).
As a blind person, for example, you can ask for help and set up a video connection (with audio) or use a photo with chat to ask what you would like to know. The example photos show you what problems visually impaired people can run into and where help from a sighted person is important: Has the milk run out? In which tin can is what? Or what photo is that with my parents on it?
There are certainly hundreds of such applications that simply do not occur to a “sighted” person because one cannot put oneself in the everyday position of a blind person. I've always wondered how a blind person gets through the day with shopping, train stations, streets, construction sites and many other things and I'm going to App also download it straight to your iPhone.
Chapter in this post:
Intelligent system prevents disturbances at night
The app is awesome at first glance, but at second glance you naturally wonder whether you will be ringing the doorbell as a helper at 3 a.m. because of an expired milk carton. In practice, this will not happen because the app is programmed to only contact users between 8 a.m. and 22 p.m. And it only connects users who have the same system language. This also prevents a Spanish blind person from asking a German sighted person how long his milk carton will last. Though I guess I could manage it. :)
I just see that you can also add languages in the app's settings. So if you speak Spanish or English, you can simply add it and receive inquiries in these languages. I'll leave it to German for now before it gets embarrassing. ;)
What happens if you can't help?
If you receive a "call for help" and for some reason you are not able to help, then as a sighted person you can also refuse help and the next sighted person will be contacted.
Registration with email necessary? Why?
There are always a few people who complain because an app requires registration. I can only say: If the guys who programmed this app were out to abuse your email addresses, then they would have programmed a beauty fashion or whatever app. There would certainly be more addresses in there than with this app. According to the makers, they currently have 10.000 sighted helpers and approx. 990 blind users. Current figures can be found in the app and on the programmer's website: www.bemyeyes.org.
In addition, registration has the advantage that you receive a profile and can therefore also receive positive and negative reviews. Jokers who think they have to help blind people with false information can be filtered out so quickly. A good idea, because idiots are everywhere ...
Be My Eyes - helping blind see from Be My Eyes on Vimeo.
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Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He acts as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with technical problems. In his spare time he rides electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with the iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions to current bugs.