App to connect you with the blind

A Danish team has developed a new iPhone app that lets sighted people help the visually challenged whenever they need it. Called Be My Eyes, the app connects the sighted with the visually challenged using video chat. The app takes advantage of an iPhone feature called VoiceOver, which lets the visually challenged use the device with the help of synthetic speech. The visually impaired may get help from the sighted for tasks like checking the expiry date on a carton of milk or crossing a street. For this, they simply need to tap their screen to find the first available sighted helper. Over 13,000 helpers have signed up in just over a day to help around 1,145 visually challenged people so far, with around 2,000 instances of aid given already, informs the app’s website.

The free-to-download app is currently available for iPhone 4S or above, running iOS 7.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/app-to-connect-you-with-the-blind/article6806241.ece