Be My Eyes

Be My Eyes – conception to a reality

 

“It’s my hope that by helping each other as an online community, Be My Eyes will make a big difference in the everyday lives of blind people all over the world.” Hans Jørgen Wiberg, Founder of Be My Eyes

In 2012, Danish furniture craftsman Hans Jørgen Wiberg, who is visually impaired himself, had an idea. His idea was to look at the way everyday technology could be utilised to assist people with visual impairments all over the world. He believed that the technology of video calls could be used to visually assist blind or visually impaired individuals, without them having to rely on friends and family, but using a network of volunteers.

Having presented his idea at a Danish start up event, he was then able to make the right connections in order to make the ‘Be My Eyes’ a reality.

On January 15th, 2015 the Be My Eyes app was released for iOS & within 24 hours the app had more than 10,000 users! There has since been an Android version released & in December 2017 Be My Eyes was awarded a Google Play Best Apps of 2017 award in the category of Most Innovative.

How Does it Work?

Be My Eyes is a free mobile app with one main goal; to make the world more accessible for the blind and visually impaired. The app connects blind and visually impaired individuals with  sighted volunteers and companies from all over the world through a live video call.

There are now more than 1 million volunteers that have signed up to assist blind and low vision users. Be My Eyes users can request assistance in over 180 languages making the app the biggest online community for blind and low vision people as well as one of the largest micro-volunteering platforms in the world! Volunteers are signing into Be My Eyes to lend their sight to blind and low vision individuals to tackle challenges and problem solve together.

You can download this amazing free app via Google Play or the Apple App Store. Alternatively head to the Be My Eyes website for more information on how you can start lending your sight today!

https://www.bemyeyes.com/download