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Thanks guys! We've been waiting for this day for a while - glad to see if finally spreading and seeing that 'helped' counter climb. <3
@flarup did you ever consider using the text-recognize features similar to the ones used in wordlens/google translate? Simply let the blind person point the mobile camera at the text, it will then recognize the text and use text to speech to let him know what it says.
What a great idea and noble cause. @flarup great job.
Is it easy for a blind person to sign up for this? Is it assumed someone will help them through registration?
So many great comments here guys. It's been an overwhelming response.
For those asking about the idea and inspiration, it is actually Hans Jørgen Wiberg who came up with it and pitched it to a Startup Weekend. Hans Jørgen is visually impaired himself and it's a beautiful story. A cool team has collaborated with him since then and a few months back we started talking about how Robocat could help out. We redesigned the prototype app, made the website and visual direction and consulted on the launch – but the heavy lifting and the long haulin' has been done by Hans Jørgen and core members of his team. This is their baby, we just helped birth it.
As for those asking why we'd do something like this? We only get to work on so many projects through our careers and this just felt right to us.
Thanks for all the comments guys – let me know if I can answer anything specific. <3
@flarup Great work. I already signed up to be a helper. I was going to ask how you guys are dealing with people who might misuse this but I saw the answer on your FAQ.
"As a new user you will be met by a experienced helper and vice versa. By the end of each session there will be an opportunity to rate or report misuse, both for the helper and the user. People who misuse the system will be excluded from the network."
This seems great for elderly blind people. But for others, I wonder. There's been some really interesting research w/in the scientific & blind communities to suggest that ostensibly helpful movements like this one are counter-intuitively BAD for blind people in the long term [1] [2] [3]. Would be very curious what the makers' thoughts are on how this app fits in with efforts to increase independence & life skills long-term.
@staringispolite An interesting position - one that I might not be entirely equipped to debate. Hans Jørgen Wiberg, the founder of Be My Eyes, is a leading figure in the danish blind society (and is visually impaired himself). He was asked about this on TV and his response was that an app like this isn't a substitute for real human contact. He said "I still expect blind people to ask their neighbor for help from time to time". His angle was more that instead of asking the same group of people repeatedly everyday, you could branch out and get a more diverse pool of help. This would make you more likely to 'borrow' a set of eyes in situations you might not have before, enabling you to do things that necessarily doesn't involve asking your spouse, friends or family about. Anecdotally I've seen this first hand and to me it makes sense. I don't think something like this will hurt the independence of blind people or make them too reliant. I think it'll empower them to do more without taxing existing relationships.
@flarup I think the two approaches can co-exist actually, I had just heard about the above "movement" so I was very curious to get your thoughts. They focus more on independence from *anyone* not just friend groups. They learn to sense the environment with canes, listening (some even echolocation!) passing vision tests with similar fidelity to a sighted person's peripheral vision. So their position (which I may be butchering here) was that a lot of help actually hinders.
But I thought the example of "does this picture of me look good" was fantastic. The milk was a bit silly (if it's bad, it'll smell bad) but no amount of this research purports to let blind people read screens. So there will always be specific instances where this tech can fit.
I just heard a radio show on this, so the timing is serendipitous. I think you may enjoy it (and I'd love to know what you think, working in the space) http://www.thisamericanlife.org/...
This is one of the most impressive apps I've seen!
Help blind people see through video chats. This is a great example of micro-volunteering and the power of apps to actually improve people's live in meaningful ways.
Great work from the non-profit Be My Eyes in collaboration with the guys at Robocat apps (@flarup @williwu and team).
Beautiful project and excellent implementation @flarup / it reminds me of http://www.eyewriter.org/, both expression of a human-centered technology that fosters social innovation.
Question: will the app be available in more languages?
@robertoscaccia Thanks! We're definitely going to introduce more languages. You can help out with localizations here https://crowdin.com/project/bemy...
This is such a wonderful idea - I really commend @flarup and the rest of the team on developing a truly philanthropic app. I'm downloading it now - hopefully I'll be able to help some people out!
@flarup Very very cool idea and great story of the origination of the app idea!
You guys are sort of a crowdsourced Amelie: ;)
This got posted 11 months ago, when it was still in the pre-launch phase. Excellent to see them go through with this project :)
Indeed. Great to see this finally launch! I interviewed @thellek about the project when I hunted it a year ago. Interesting to read in retrospect :)
This is a fantastic idea. Brilliant. One of those things where you think "Why didn't I think of that?!?!"
@farup Are a lot of people using this?
Thanks Kris, yes it's very easy. Most blind or sight impaired smartphone users use the build in accessibility voice over– which works remarkably well. They're guided through registration in just a few simple steps. It was an interesting challenge to design an app that worked well in these kinds of situations.
@farup and team love the concept! Can you provide some background how the concept came to be? What's the biggest product challenge you guys are facing?
Great idea, filling a real need for people. The app is straightforward; once you get set up you just wait until you're needed. You get a push notification when someone needs assistance, sometimes even if you answer right away someone else might beat you to it. But the fact that there are lots of people willing to help others is really great. There are many more sighted people than blind people on the app, so people needing help can almost always get it right away.
In the few years I have had this app I think I have actually interacted with someone twice. But it was a very rewarding experience.
Pros:Simple to use and you can help real people solve simple problems
Cons:Rarely receive notifications (not really a bad thing per se)
Love how the simplest ideas are always the best. This really is amazing - downloaded and will spread the word as much as possible.
I've used this Almost weekly n a few times twice a week when I was able to pick a call and help someone.
Easy to use and great idea.
1. The only issue I faced was i sometimes missed to pick a call perhaps coz I didn't answer on the first few (1-2) seconds?
2. It's a good idea and ive been able to help people with tech n non tech issue too..lol yeah...
But I wondered if someone could give am incorrect help (I know there are people with good hearts, but there should be some mechanism-maybe feedback system?)
Pros:Helpful to the needy
Cons:Quick disconnect
What a great app. I actually had an experience where a sight impaired person asked me to help them get money from a Cash point/ATM. My thought was this is just one interaction of so many the person has where they have to trust complete strangers to help. Awesome idea.
Love this! My grandfather pioneered the IOL which treats cataract which leads to blindness. Big supporter of anything in that category!
Brilliant. Can't wait to help out! I'm just wondering how long my altruism, or that of others, will last.
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