[Nfbmo] News Story - Danish App 'lends sight to the blind' - what do you think?
DanFlasar at aol.com
DanFlasar at aol.com
Sat Jan 17 22:24:24 UTC 2015
;Hi all,
Below, I've inserted the text from an article from The Huffington
Post. I'll include a link at the end but HuffPo isn't the most blind
-friendly of sites. What do you think of this app?
Included text begins now:
A new app lets you -- yes, you -- help the blind see.
Copenhagen-based app _Be My Eyes_ (http://www.bemyeyes.org/) , which
launched on Thursday, connects blind people and sighted people through their
iPhones and iPads. Here's how it works: If you're blind, you can sign up for
the service and reach out to sighted users through a live video connection on
the app. Once connected, blind users can ask sighted users questions over
video chat. If you're sighted, you can sign up to help blind users.
If you're a sighted user and you get a request, it will come through your
phone as a push notification with a ringing sound. If you tap the
notification, you'll be connected and a video will pop up, showing whatever the
blind user is filming. You'll also be able to hear him or her speak and ask a
question.
Sighted users might be asked to help navigate a new place, read a sign or
label, or help in some other way. One example of how someone might use the
app is to help distinguish between two cans of food:
(illustration of 2 different cans of food)
Both iPhones and iPads have services built in to help blind users. You can
_use VoiceOver for iOS_
(https://www.apple.com/accessibility/ios/voiceover/) to get your iPhone or iPad to help you navigate your screen, type, read,
use apps and more.
Since you're connected to each other via live video, there are obviously
some ways in which users could abuse the system. "Both the blind person and
the sighted person are allowed to report each other for misuse," Be My Eyes
co-founder and CEO Thelle Kristensen told The Huffington Post in a phone
interview on Friday. If you get reported enough times, you won't be able to
connect to anyone through the app anymore.
If you're a sighted user and a notification appears but you don't answer
it, the request will simply go to someone else. As of now, there are
currently more than 17,800 sighted people and 1,500 blind people using the app,
according to the Be My Eyes website. More than 2,900 pairs of blind and
sighted people have been connected so far.
"Not every helper has gotten a call yet," Kristensen said. "We hope to see
that picking up more and more."
The entire service is free, and Be My Eyes is a nonprofit. It's only
available on iOS devices for now, but you can_ request to be notified_
(http://bemyeyes.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=e7bc4d93c409f117307da5764&id=6715c5a0e
a) when the Android app is available.
(embedded video not copyable)
Here's the link to the story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/16/be-my-eyes-app_n_6488230.html
Dan
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