There's a new iPhone app from the Danish team known for Thermodo that lets sighted folks help the blind on the rare occasions they need it. Called Be My Eyes, the non-profit, crowd-sourced app (on iOS only for now) pairs sighted with blind users using video chat. The concept is pretty simple: when a blind person needs help to, say, glean the expiration date on a carton of milk or cross a street, they simply tap their screen to find the first available sighted helper. Once a helper accepts the request, the blind person points his rear camera at the problem and can get assistance by video chat.
If you sign up, the Be My Eyes team said there's no need to worry about "leaving a blind person hanging" if you're not available. Over 13,000 helpers have signed up in just over a day to help around 1,145 blind people so far, with around 2,000 instances of aid given already, according to the Be My Eyes site. The overwhelming number of users shows there's still nice functionality to be had in some pretty old tech.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software
Via: TUAW
Source: Be My Eyes
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