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Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind
- ianferrel 12y agoI just downloaded it, and I'm stuck at the "please enable the following to fully join the Be My Eyes network". I approved all the permissions. Nothing's happening. iOS 8.something on an iPhone5.
- borabey 12y agoiOS 7 here, had same problem. just switch between apps, it goes normal but there's no direct transition.
- MrBra 12y agoNow that's one of those ideas that are so ingenious that it's actually giving me chills. Also, it's always great when IT improves people health condition.
- tersiag 12y agoGreat idea guys, this will benefit the visual impairment community greatly :). I had a similar idea several years ago but for the web. Where you could use a sighted person's eyes to navigate a webpage.
- armed10 12y agoDoes the app keep in mind that it's nearly impossible for blind people to operate a smartphone? There's no keyboard or braille on such a device.
- damncabbage 12y agoThe iPhone has VoiceOver, and there are bluetooth Braille keyboards/displays for typing. This page goes into a bit more detail: https://andreashead.wikispaces.com/How+Do+Blind+People+Use+an+iPad,+iPod,+or+iPhone https://andreashead.wikispaces.com/How+Do+Blind+People+Use+a...
- jsta 12y agoAm I the only person that saw this app and immediately thought of google glass?
- hellbanner 12y agoMostly sighted users on this app.. when will I be able to see for someone?
- greggman 12y agoAfter listening to the latest This American Life the first thing that occurs to me is though the intentions of this are good and their are some good uses for it this might have unintended consequences The EP of This American Life is that basically with a little practice most blind people can learn to see with echolocation. Yes I know it sounds incredible but listen to the episode. The TL;DL version would be (1) blind people can learn to echolocate (2) MRI scans prove they are actually seeing, no colors but shapes (3) People that could see but then went blind and learned to echolocate confirm they can see. (4) The fact that most people think blind people can't do anything and need and then offer so much help prevents most blind people from learning to echolocate and start seeing. don't shoot the messenger. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/544/batman http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/544/b...
- joshdance 12y agoThis is my lack of experience, but how does a blind person launch the app and find the correct button to push? I have toyed around with the Accessibility Features on the iPhone, is there a mode that will speak out what you are tapping on?
- xutopia 12y agoWith Siri you can just press the home button for 2 seconds and say: "Open Be My Eyes" and it will open it up for you.
- rgoodwintx 12y agoVoiceOver, among other features I believe: https://www.apple.com/accessibility/ios/voiceover/ https://www.apple.com/accessibility/ios/voiceover/
- tobiasdm 12y agoYep. We have optimised quite a lot for VoiceOver. The graphical part of the UI is quite boring for the blind :)
- hcarvalhoalves 12y agoSiri "Launch the X app"? I gather the rest of the UI can be used with gestures. See a user flicking sideways in the video.
- davidrusu 12y agoMaybe they are using Siri to launch apps
- johlindenbaum 12y agoYou should try VoiceOver and the gestures that come with it, it's mind blowing how well it works. I've found plenty of usability improvements that are really easy to make so that VoiceOver works flawlessly in apps I've worked on.
- 12y ago
- rlpb 12y agoAre there any legal consequences if a blind person is helped crossing the street and gets hit by a car?
- LTheobald 12y agoYeah, I saw that and just thought hell no. I'm partially sighted & there's no a chance I'd let someone guide me across a road via video chat on a 3G connection. I'd go as far as saying that's quite an irresponsible use to suggest on your home page.
- johlindenbaum 12y agoIt wouldn't be any different than the passenger in your car telling you, like "clear right". Any resulting accident is still the driver's fault afaik.
- masukomi 12y agothere isn't network delay when your passenger tells you its "clear right"
- saalaa 12y agoI think it's much different from a legal standpoint. First and foremost, the driver is assumed to be fully valid and thus in no need of a blind trust (no pun intended).
- tlrobinson 12y ago
- yawz 12y agoCould someone who has used the app tell us about the real-life experience please?
- khebbie 12y agoWell I have used the app as both blind and sighted. A blind person simply presses a button which sends requests to a helper. If the helper does not have time, the api sends a request to another helper. When a helper takes the call, he/she gets a video and audio stream from the blind persons phone. The blind person gets an audio stream from the sighted person. A conversion about the problem to be solved can now take place. Whenever the blind or sighted person wishes to disconnect, they press a button and the call is finished. Is that what you were asking for?
- yawz 12y agoYes, thank you. I was also wondering what kind of problems this app is solving. I'm not visually impaired so I'm probably not good at imagining real-world scenarios where this app can be useful. It sounds like a great idea and very promising.
- khebbie 12y agoWell: "Does my socks match" "Is this milk too old" "which of the three cans in front of me is the coconut milk" Only the imagination of the users sets the limit...
- yawz 12y agoI'm assuming (maybe wrongly and naively) that those are already solved problems. I'm assuming a visually impaired person already has his/her routines to avoid those problems. That's why I wanted to hear from the users of the app. For example, a volunteer who helped someone.
- JshWright 12y ago
- ejstronge 12y agoOddly relevant - a This American Life episode recently explored whether cultural expectations of blind individuals' abilities have been detrimental[1]. 1. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/544/batman http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/544/b...
- adamvalve 12y agoThat is the first thought I had. The expectation here is that the blind need help, which may not be the case. The interesting thing to me was that the blind can "see" through echo location. Very cool stuff.
- memonkey 12y agoSOME blind people can see using echo location. From what I understand, children can learn faster in detecting objects with sound vs someone much older where it may take much longer. There is a pretty good Wiki on it that explains more and includes some people from the show[1]. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_echolocation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_echolocation
- simonster 12y agoThere are also various auditory vision substitution systems (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_substitution#Auditory_vision_substitution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_substitution#Auditory_v...). The vOICe creators claim that blind individuals can achieve the equivalent 20/250 vision with a week of training (http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/dec/07/voice-soundscape-headsets-allow-blind-see http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/dec/07/voice-soundsc...).
- Dylan16807 12y ago20/250 vision is... really good. Able to use a full 80x24 terminal with ease. Able to drive as long as you're not too picky about legality or reading signs. Able to read facial expressions in a conversation. I'm very curious about the details of 'equivalent'.
- khebbie 12y agoI am part of the team who created the app and api. Many blind users use the voice over feature built into ios as @rgoodwintx mentioned.
- dntrkv 12y agoOne problem that I see (you guys might already address this) but if I'm a helper and I get a call from a blind person and I have just a couple minutes to help but the blind person needs 10 minutes of help it would be inefficient to connect me with them. One way to solve this would be for the blind to select a time range of how much help they need (1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc...) and then when it calls the helper it will show how much help is needed, so they can either decline or go into the call knowing how long they will be busy for. Also you may be able to introduce pricing in this way, where anything under 5 minutes is free, but over 5 minutes you charge however much per minute and then split the cost with the helper.
- khebbie 12y agoWe didn't think about that but will take it into consideration. The app will probably stay free as that is the whole base of this. But the expected timespan is very usable. Thank you.
- 27182818284 12y agoWhat made you choose iOS first over Android? (Was it an arbitrary choice or one driven by data that more iOS users would be on board with this sort of project than Android users? Maybe something simpler like the developers had more iOS experience?)
- ilyaeck 12y agoGreat undertaking, guys! I am from Robin Labs, we create voice assistants and would like to build one for the blind (Siri-style, but one that is really eyes-free). To do that, we need somebody who understands the target audience and their use cases better than we do. Maybe we could team up and make a difference. If that sounds interesting, please ping me at ilya AT robinlabs DOT com.
- frantzmiccoli 12y agoI have installed the app on my iPhone 6, tried to use my Facebook account (but I prefer OAuth to setting up a Facebook account on my device), so I have created an account (through email address) and now the application just crashes every time I launch it. I have uninstalled it and logged in again, but the crash loop is coming back. Otherwise your concept is great, but the app needs improvements from here.
- khebbie 12y agoCan you please send an email to info@bemyeyes.org with the details, as we are very interested in fixing this issue
- ikt 12y agoMy only question is how do you handle trolls, idiots, abuse etc? What happens if for example 4chan decides to 'raid' your app and direct blind people into unfortunate situations. I must admit it's a very low act but that's my only real thought about this. If abuse wasn't a possibility I think the app is 100% amazing.
- jsilence 12y agoNot exactly abuse, but I think this app might be a way for non-blind people to get to know some random potentially nice person. Sort of like chat roulette but without the dicks.
- khebbie 12y agoWe do have abuse handling
- antihero 12y agoHow does it work? I think trust is a huge factor with this sort of thing, so you have to be transparent about how you'd prevent, say, random asshats potentially putting people in real danger.
- robmcm 12y agoNot only intentional abuse, but what about lag? Especially when say, crossing the road!
- dyeje 12y agoAny chance of an Android version? Edit: Sorry, should have looked at the FAQ.
- mwcampbell 12y agoNice idea, but I think it would be better if it were commercial, with the blind user paying, the sighted helper getting paid, and the app developers getting a cut. The payment could be by the minute. I think the general public will be more inclined to treat blind people as equals if we demolish the notion that blind people require charity. Addendum: Lest anyone think I'm talking out of my ass, here's a blog post from a blind programmer who previously had the idea of doing something like this as a business. Unfortunately, it looks like he abandoned that project, since the home page now redirects to something else. https://thewordnerd.info/2014/04/01/perceptron-the-first-real-time-marketplace-for-independent-living-help/ https://thewordnerd.info/2014/04/01/perceptron-the-first-rea...
- PostOnce 12y agoReally? Equals? Don't require charity? They CAN'T SEE. Even if they can somehow manage to do "everything" a normal person can do, they can't do it with the same speed. Every blind person is 100% totally self-sufficient and able to hold down a steady job that pays well enough to take care of all their needs? Job hunting is hard enough when you can see! Imagine, a world where the government and employers didn't provide any extra help for the blind, and the blind didn't have families to lean on. What the hell are you actually talking about? "If we took wheelchairs away from crippled people, maybe the general public will be more inclined to treat them as equals and demolish the notion that cripples require the assistance of wheelchairs"
- boomlinde 12y agoThe blind people are already outnumbered by the sighted, pretty much 1:10. Turns out blind people don't use phones with touch screens.
- nolk100 12y agoI'd feel pretty cheeky helping a blind person if I was doing it just to get paid for it. Similarly, I wouldn't help an old lady cross the street then ask for a pound.
- hrjet 12y ago
- josephjrobison 12y agoThis seems amazing and world changing. Would love to see more apps like this. Downloading now...
- Oras 12y agoGreat idea, very pleased to see app with this passion to help and change. Great work
- wiradikusuma 12y agoLooks like a novel idea! I'm wondering what's the purpose of giving "points" to the helpers? I can't find anywhere in the website mentioning the points' purpose. It's a non-profit/charity, and (I think) people understand they won't get anything in return (other than good feeling), what's with the points? (pure curiosity)
- khebbie 12y agoThe points is just a fun gamification thing. Trying to make people share and use the app.
- TeMPOraL 12y agoGamification. "Internet points" have a way to boost one's self-esteem while not perverting as much as monetary rewards do. Even though I totally want to help for free, I'd personally like to look every now and then and see how many people I've helped over time, just to boost my feelings of self-worth.
- kin 12y agoIt's also a way to establish trust between the blind and the volunteers. I haven't used the app but I imagine the blind can somehow (via voice?) specify a certain threshold of "points". Otherwise, there might be some uncool people out there doing uncool things.
- jdstafford 12y agoCrossing the street? Really??
- fredley 12y agoI watched Charlie Brooker's new Black Mirror episode 'White Christmas' recently, and it deals with technology not entirely dissimilar to this. Well worth a watch.
- djb_hackernews 12y agoGreat application of remote crowdsourced guidance. Of course the end game is to allow remote "workers" to take control of appliances in your home to do certain tasks that aren't easy to automate yet, ie clear the dinner table, wash the dishes, clean up after the dog, etc. Another lucrative application would be remote operation of heavy machinery. Imagine road work with no "Men at Work" signs.
- TeMPOraL 12y agoFrom the little I talked with blind people, I think this could be a great solution for shopping. People I talked with said that crossing streets or moving around ain't big problem for them, but one of their biggest pain points are grocery stores. More and more, Mom&Pop stores are replaced by network supermarkets, in which you need to search for the product yourself instead of asking for it, and employees are often not prepared/willing to help a blind customer. This app could help a lot here.
- dimman 12y agoThanks, really, for showing hope for humanity.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- beauzero 12y agoOk...that is just cool.
- bvanslyke 12y agoThe small heading "Blind Requests Assistance" should probably be rephrased. You don't wanna use a disability as a noun like that.
- nagiek 12y agoWhy would a blind person carry a touch screen phone??
- ssalenik 12y agoBoth iOS and Android now have pretty good accessibility features for the blind. I think iOS is still slightly ahead though. Basically the phone reads out the button or action when you put your finger over it and you have to double tap to click. When you go to a new screen, it reads out the contents. You can try it yourself if you have an iOS or Android phone by enabling the feature. But I've met blind people who use their touch screen smart phones every day.
- sjustinas 12y agoIt's not like smartphones don't have accessibility features (text-to-speech and similar).
- troymc 12y agoThere's a similar market to connect students with tutors, e.g. "I'm stuck on this physics homework problem, can you help me right now?" Examples: http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2014/12/15/quickhelp-quickteach-apps-harvard/ http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2014/12/15/quickhelp... http://www.astutetutoring.com/ http://www.astutetutoring.com/
- walterbell 12y agoWhat the industry needs is OPEN training data for image and voice recognition, which can be annotated by human volunteers and used to improve new algos. This data can be hosted by archive.org under a permissive license. For example, there is a commercial service in the "visual search" space which has been around for a few years, which uses a combination of algos and human employees. It is available as an API and app (8 cents per picture, or $10 per month unlimited). "Besides CamFind, the Image Searcher, Inc. team also created TapTapSee, which is a similar app for the blind and visually impaired. It uses image recognition technology with photos taken on your smartphone and then a voice actually speaks the results. This earned the team an Access Award just one week ago from the American Foundation for the Blind", http://www.builtinla.com/blog/camfind-brings-visual-search-your-smartphone-putting-google-goggles-test http://www.builtinla.com/blog/camfind-brings-visual-search-y... An AFB review from 2013 (at that time the app was free), http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw140704 http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw140704 How much faster could this research area have moved if the collected data was open? What if Facebook/Instagram decided to contribute in some manner, given their large database of photos and tags?
- rdez6173 12y agoI find the thought of communicating directly with someone a bit anxiety-inducing, but I would really love to volunteer for something like this. I would be happy to transcribe a letter, or product expiry date so that I could be read back to the user with text-to-speech in real-time. I suspect that I'm in the minority and this is likely a non-issue.
- emverest 12y agoI have the same fears. Downloaded the app, and once I realized that I needed to make an account, in addition to my fear, I balked out. Or maybe I'm just lazy..
- reledi 12y agoI'm in the same boat. I'd be more likely to help if it wasn't real-time (but still quick enough to be helpful).
- khebbie 12y agovizWiz is an alternative, which is not real time
- ndarilek 12y agoThat's actually an interesting bit of feedback. Thanks. I'm using SIP/web RTC for my for-profit version of this and had considered adding text chat, but I couldn't come up with a good use case so left it out. It'd probably also be useful when the text of something is important and you'd like a record after the call ended. I'll add that to the features list.
- leapius 12y agoIf only there was an Android version I'd be on it right now. In fact I think it would actually be quite an enjoyable past time answering requests, especially for lonely people. Think about how interesting it would be to help out a complete stranger from anywhere in the world. I think it would become quite addicting.
- aluhut 12y agoNot only lonely. Just bored. I also hope for a release on Android soon.
- RIMR 12y agoWatch out for 4chan. They posted a bunch of strobing GIFs in a epilepsy forum a while back. I wouldn't put it past them to find exploiting this app hilarious...
- tobiasdm 12y agoCurrently we have builtin abuse reports in the app, if either end of a call thinks something is odd. Hopefully we can catch abuse through this mechanism. Please let us know if you hear about anything like this in relation to Be My Eyes – sounds horrible.
- yellowapple 12y agoYet another iPhone-only application. I guess I won't be helping blind people as an Android peasant ;) Great concept, though, and it being FOSS is a huge plus in my book (and will probably help with developing more applications around this for non-iOS platforms).
- Cieplak 12y agoReminds me of http://pornfortheblind.org/ http://pornfortheblind.org/ (nsfw) which is a service where people watch and narrate videos for blind people.
- tobiasdm 12y agoThe entire project is Open Source – check it out on http://github.com/bemyeyes/ http://github.com/bemyeyes/ !
- putzdown 12y agoCurious: a couple of the images of "blind" eyes show eyes with no pupils. Forgive my ignorance, but is this common among blind people, or is it a Photoshopism? If a Photoshopism, then is it wise for a website offering services for the blind to misrepresent the physiology of blindness?
- chiurox 12y agoThis would not work in Brazil, at least currently, where our 3G/4G are laughable... But it's a good start. The machine learning applicability could be awesome. Maybe one day we can have a smartphone guiding the blind without the need for an actual human to be on the other side.
- ctdonath 12y agoSounds like a prime candidate for Amazon's Mechanical Turks. Vet & train a core group, and pay them to narrate pictures/video. Not hard work, not high pay, but (as a friend has found) there are competent people willing to do such work for humble pay.
- ohaio 12y agoOh what happens if a serial killer uses it to lure blind people in?
- elwell 12y agoNow my eyes are watering. Good job on the introduction video.
- thret 12y agoIt might be nice if your SO/parent/etc could get first priority, and then outsource if they are not available. That way couples could use the app for their own convenience too.