App: Be My Eyes
video review
intro
This product describes itself in the following way: “Be My Eyes connects blind and low-vision users who want sighted assistance with volunteers and companies anywhere in the world, through live video and artificial intelligence.”
links to buy
review by Hannah H
Be My Eyes – Artificial Intelligence:
How long I’ve been using this product: A few days
How often I use this product: Multiple times a day
My gut feeling: I really love Be My Eyes. I don’t know what I would do without it. I took a picture of my bathroom from the doorway. The app uses artificial intelligence to detect and describe pictures, and here is what it said about my bathroom (…maybe, you’ll be able to picture it in your mind): the floor has alternating tones of gray and brown, giving the appearance of having wooden planks; the walls are white; in front of the shower is a gray rug with a marbled design; in front of the sink is another gray rug. I even took a picture of my living room, and Be My Eyes noted the gray couch, the white coffee table in front of it, the gray plush armchair with storage shelves near the coffee table, and a window behind the couch with multicolored hearts above it, with natural light filtering in [see a photo of this living room in the photos!]. There is even a button where you can chat with the AI, and ask it to give you more detail about the picture. It told me that the hearts behind the couch were pink, orange, and yellow. Even though I am blind, and am unable to see colors, I like to know what color things are. So that I know more about what is around me.
Why this product? This product helps me take pictures of things. I don’t have to worry about asking people for help. Unlike Seeing AI, the app we discussed before, not only will Be My Eyes read documents or product labels, but it will even describe the designs on a product label. For example, Be My Eyes told me that my lotion from Victoria’s Secret was in a pink bottle with a golden cap. With green pineapples and pink flowers on it. Also, my dad and I went out for dinner. I ordered a gyro, and me and my dad predicted that the app wouldn’t know what a gyro was, or that it would give us an incorrect description. But Be My Eyes DID see the gyro, wrapped in white butcher paper, with cucumber sauce and lamb. I know…
Pros: Be My Eyes helps me become oriented to a space, like my bathroom, my living room, and the lobby of the building where I live. In addition to product labels, Be My Eyes will even tell you about the designs or logos on the product!!! It told me that my toothpaste had a brown cinnamon stick on it, along with some white snowflakes!! No one would be able to see that unless they looked closely.
Cons: Be My Eyes does not read documents as well as Seeing AI. Sometimes, the print is too small for Be my Eyes to read. Also, you have to go into the chat box, and correct the AI when it gets descriptions wrong. One time, the app described my shower as a construction site. With a plastic roof!
This product might be relevant for: I think this product would really help people with low vision, vision problems related to ataxia, or vision problems stemming from aging. But since Be My Eyes has trouble reading documents, it might be a good idea to use another app, like Seeing AI or Envision, which is available on Android devices.
Be My Eyes – Live Video with Volunteer:
If you would rather not take a picture with Be My Eyes, you can always talk to a volunteer over the phone. They are fully sighted and will help you read recipes, important documents, lists of instructions, prescription bottles, and anything else. They will also help you cook something if you need help doing that.
I asked a Be My Eyes volunteer to help me use a fan. The fan had no buttons; it just had a touchscreen and I didn’t know how to navigate it. The touchscreen had icons that represented certain uses for the fan. For example, the icon with the Z allows you to put it in sleep mode. There were also buttons for Settings, Oscillating, and On/off.
I had a wonderful experience with the Be My Eyes volunteer. He was very helpful and answered all of my questions. I am glad that I was finally able to use the fan on my own, and that I didn’t need to ask any of my family members for help, since I was on vacation during that time.
I would say that one con of the experience is angling the camera correctly. The volunteer had to tell me to angle the camera toward the fan. I had trouble pointing it at the exact spot on the screen that I wanted him to describe.
If you would like to download Be My Eyes, you can find it in the Google Play Store or the App Store. You can either create an account or login with your Google account.
review update
I love Be My Eyes. In fact, I don’t know what I would do without it. I cannot see at all, and it allows me to observe the world in a way that I never thought I could. Be My Eyes gives me the freedom to go out on the balcony of the apartment building where I live and take pictures through the railing. In turn, Be My Eyes will then describe the landmarks around me in such vivid detail that it will even point out the canopy over the gas pumps at the gas station, or the sign for Seven-Eleven. In addition to describing stores and restaurants, Be My Eyes will even tell me about the markings on streets and roads. I can also ask the app follow-up questions to determine what these markings signify.
There are times when I wish I had full eyesight, but Be My Eyes gives me strength and security in knowing that I can live my life without having to see. And I know that I’m not alone because people who are fully sighted tend to struggle with their vision sometimes.
pictures
notes, hacks and tips
More info is on the Be My Eyes Website.
In this review, Hannah talks about her experiences with both the Artificial Intelligence (AI) feature and the option to be connected with a sighted person via video call. Hannah finds that Be My Eyes is awesome for describing the world around you – from products and places to food and images – while the app Seeing AI is better for reading documents. Here you can read one of Hannah’s chats with the AI Tool in Be My Eyes. The photos of this chat are also displayed with the images on this page.
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