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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#467886" vlink="#96607D" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><div><p class=MsoNormal>Looking forward to this with my Ray Bans!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-ligatures:none'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.bemyeyes.com/blog/be-my-eyes-meta-accessibility-partnership">Original Source</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Be My Eyes and Meta Announce Accessibility Partnership</span><o:p></o:p></p><h1 align=center style='mso-margin-top-alt:6.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:0in;text-align:center;mso-line-height-alt:13.2pt;box-sizing: border-box;font-size:2.5rem;color:var(--apple-black)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Be My Eyes and Meta Announce Accessibility Partnership</span><o:p></o:p></h1><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:21.0pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#52525B'>Be My Eyes to provide “Call a Volunteer” on Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, unlocking hands-free accessibility for blind and low vision people for the first time</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><img border=0 width=1440 height=860 style='width:15.0in;height:8.9583in' id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image001.png@01DB0F5C.99F43D50" alt="Be My Eyes and Meta logo side by side"></span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><em><b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>San Francisco, September. 25, 2024</span></b></em><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> - </span></strong><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Be My Eyes, the company that connects people who are blind or have low vision with sighted volunteers and companies, through live video and AI, is thrilled to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Meta to provide its award-winning technology on Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which blend cutting edge technology with iconic design. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>In a market first, the Ray-Ban Meta and Be My Eyes partnership will allow the user to initiate Be My Eyes’ “Call a Volunteer” experience entirely by voice command. Saying “Hey Meta, Call a Volunteer on Be My Eyes” will connect users to a sighted volunteer, who speaks the user’s language, via a one-way video, two-way audio call. Through this integration, the volunteer will see through the lens of the smart glasses in order to provide a real-time description to the user through their open-ear speakers, for everyday tasks such as setting a thermostat, finding the right supermarket aisle, or preparing meals—all while keeping the user's hands free. The Be My Eyes service is completely free for the end user, and already available any time of the day or night.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>The “Call a Volunteer” feature on Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses is the first product offering of a wider, combined development partnership between Be My Eyes and Meta, and will be available soon, initially for users in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, and Australia.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>The combined development work will deliver new levels of accessibility for people who are blind or have low vision, and for the first time, will provide hands-free access to Be My Eyes technology and their global network of 7.7 million volunteers. The development partnership is focused around platform-native integration and ease-of-use, with direct input and unprecedented testing from the blind and low-vision community. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>For example, the “Call a Volunteer” integration will allow for easy toggling between glasses and smartphone camera, and back again, providing the user with the flexibility of switching between the world view and the selfie view. This level of functionality is only possible through close development co-operation between the two companies.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>The integration of the Be My Eyes platform with Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses is also being designed with simplicity and elegance from the outset, and with a suite of hands-free capabilities, which will provide an unprecedented, powerful description tool for blind people at work, school or home. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>“The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses hands-free form factor makes them uniquely versatile to serve everyone, including the blind and low vision community,”</span></em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> said Freddy Abnousi, VP of Health Technology at Meta. <em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>“The Call a Volunteer feature is the first product offering of combined development between Meta and Be My Eyes and we look forward to seeing how it evolves with direct input from this community.”</span></em></span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>"<em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Our collaboration with Meta launches an experience that addresses something that our community of blind and low-vision users has been requesting for a long time, namely hands-free access to our services."</span></em> said Mike Buckley, CEO of Be My Eyes. <em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>"The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have enabled that, and with our integration we have now opened a gateway to unprecedented levels of accessibility, unlocking new opportunities for those navigating their daily lives. And this is just the beginning."</span></em></span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>"At Meta, our approach to inclusive innovation is a guiding principle that shapes how we build and design our products. We're working to build technologies that are truly reflective of the diversity of our nearly 4 billion global users, and our partnership with Be My Eyes is a significant step towards making the world more inclusive and accessible for people who are blind or have low vision,”</span></em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'> said Maxine Williams. Chief Diversity Officer at Meta. <em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>“We're excited about the potential of this collaboration and look forward to continuing our work in making accessibility a core part of our product development."</span></em></span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Potential use cases for the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses with Be My Eyes are vast. From assisting with grocery shopping, locating a dropped item, reading important documents, or simply getting a visual description of a complex environment such as a busy airport. Whatever the situation, the glasses combined with Be My Eyes services provide an essential tool that now brings new levels of hands-free accessibility to everyday life. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>“As an avid user of Be My Eyes since its launch in 2015, I was excited to test out the integration with Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses,” </span></em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>said Chancey Fleet, a tech educator and advocate who is blind.<em><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> “It's the same core connection between a blind or low-vision user and a sighted volunteer, but, now that it's hands-free, I can focus on the conversation and what’s happening around me, without the distraction of holding and pointing a phone camera. Last week, for example, I used the integration to find my way through a busy airport, from curbside through security to my gate. Sharing my view from the glasses with a volunteer freed my hands up to manage my bags, react to my guide dog’s cues, and use my phone to show my boarding pass. This partnership gives Be My Eyes users a powerful new way to actively explore the world". </span></em></span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>END</span></strong><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='color:black'>ž</span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>About Be My Eyes</span></strong><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Launched in 2015, Be My Eyes is a globally recognized and award-winning access technology provider for people who are blind or have low vision. With a global community of 700,000 users, and 7.7 million volunteers, Be My Eyes connects blind and low-vision users with sighted volunteers and companies, through live video and AI to tackle inaccessible parts of everyday life, whether at home or at work; all for free to the end user.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Be My Eyes is available in more than 150 countries worldwide and its volunteers speak more than 180 languages. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:9.6pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.2in;margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;color:var(--black-100)'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>To learn more, please visit <a href="http://bemyeyes.com/">bemyeyes.com</a> or join us on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/be-my-eyes/?originalSubdomain=dk">LinkedIn</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/BeMyEyes?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">X</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bemyeyesapp/">Facebook</a>,<a href="https://www.instagram.com/bemyeyesapp/?hl=en"> Instagram</a>, <a href="https://mastodon.social/@bemyeyes">Mastodon</a>, <a href="https://www.threads.net/@bemyeyesapp">Threads</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@bemyeyesapp?lang=en">TikTok</a>.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></body></html>