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The
World Health Organization estimates that 2.2 billion people around the globe
are visually impaired. Since 2015, the Be My Eyes app has
been working to help that population — and it’s now getting a major AI boost.
Be My Eyes was founded by Danish furniture craftsman Hans Jørgen Wiberg, who
is visually impaired himself. It has a network of more than 6 million
volunteers who connect with blind and low-vision users to
assist them with everyday tasks via video calls. Recently, though, the app
has been beta testing a new feature that utilizes artificial intelligence in
addition to the volunteers.
“It’s
very empowering,” Brian Fischler, who is blind and among the
100 beta testers, told NBC News. He has used the app for everything from
reading restaurant menus to finding where the shampoo is on a convenience
store shelf. He simply takes a photo and asks a question, and the AI bot will
describe what it sees.
He noted privacy as a key upside to the AI tool, when compared to calling a
loved one or video chatting a volunteer. “Having this kind of information in
the palm of my hand, it’s just going to change so many things,”
Fischler said, describing the technology as “life-altering.”
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