As useless as doomscrolling Instagram reels can be, every now and then, the practice does seem to pay off by unveiling some genuinely useful information you arguably would not have been familiar with otherwise. I recently had such an experience, and I would like to share my findings with all of you, because they’re rather spectacular in this particular instance.
The reel I viewed depicted a woman making use of an app called Be My Eyes. The woman, through this app, received a request for help from someone who is vision-impaired; the individual with vision problems used the app to call someone who uses it (the woman who posted the reel, in this case), and was able to ask her to tell them what the name of a DVD was in their hands that they weren’t able to read themselves. Naturally, I wanted to learn more about this app and its altruistic purposes, and the following information comes from bemyeyes.com.
“Be My Eyes started with a simple idea: to make the world more accessible for people who are blind or have low vision through the power of connection.
“The idea came from Hans Jørgen Wiberg, a Danish craftsman with low vision. While working with The Danish Association of the Blind, Hans noticed how often people needed a little visual assistance for everyday tasks. A friend shared how video calls with family helped him get that assistance, and Hans saw an opportunity: what if people who are blind or have low vision could connect with a global network of volunteers, ready to lend their sight?
“In 2015, the Be My Eyes app was launched and, within 24 hours, 10,000 volunteers had signed up. Today, millions of volunteers support users in over 180 languages – proving that a little help goes a long way,” the website explains.
The best part? The app is free for anyone who makes use of it.
Download it from the App Store, my friends.
