Business Standard

New app lets you help the blind see

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Press Trust of India Washington
A new app helps you 'lend' your eyes to a visually impaired person and answer their questions over video chat to help them navigate, read a sign or perform everyday tasks.

The app Be My Eyes, developed by a Danish non-profit, connects blind and sighted people through their iPhones and iPads.

A visually impaired person 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.

A sighted user will get a request on their phone as a push notification with a ringing sound, according to 'The Huffington Post'.
 

If the user is unable to answer it, the request will go to someone else.

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.

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First Published: Feb 03 2015 | 4:25 PM IST

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