"Visually impaired" - Google News - Friday, July 12, 2019 at 8:26 PM
"Be My Eyes" allows blind people to see by proxy |
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MINNEAPOLIS — Technology is scary often times, but it can be such a beautiful
thing. It definitely has made the world more accessible to people with
disabilities.
Randee Boerboom loves to bake. She's been baking cakes ever since. However,
blind baking is hard, even when it comes from a box.
"This happened in 2011, it happened very quickly," Boerboom described. "I lost
my vision to a form of glaucoma called Neovascular Glaucoma. I woke up on a
Sunday I believe it was-- and by that Wednesday, I was totally blind."
Boerboom said prior to 2011, she could see only partially. She had Retinopathy
of Prematurity as a baby. However, 2011 was when she lost most of her vision.
She said these days, she can tell if the lights are on, and some figures.
It was then she started relying on a lot of tech to help her get around and do
things. One of the many tools in her pocket is the "Be My Eyes" app.
"They use volunteers from around the world," Boerboom said. "Anyone that's
sighted can sign up to be a volunteer."
The app hooks visually impaired people up with sighted volunteers for a video
chat. Right now 2.6 million volunteers have signed up, waiting to help around
139,000 blind users.
"The volunteer to visually impaired ratio is big," Boerboom said. "I've never
gotten the same person twice. It's great. They encourage you to call multiple
times a day, as much as you want."
Boerboom said the other day she used Be My Eyes to figure out where an annoying
beeping noise was coming from inside her apartment.
"What you do is you pan the rear camera [of your phone] around until the person
sees what they need to see in the rear camera," Boerboom explained. "That's
what happened, [the volunteer said] yes, the smoke detector is above your
bedroom door."
The app allowed her to independently figure out that her smoke detector's
batteries were low, and to change it.
Today, she called volunteers through Be My Eyes to identify a box of cake mix
and frosting she had in her pantry. She had the volunteer read the label and
also the directions on the back of the box. She also called in to ask for help
identifying her mail. She asked the volunteer where the pieces of mail came
from. The volunteer patiently verbally guided her hand to pan the camera to the
correct spot on the envelope.
The app isn't just helpful for her in the home but also outside. Although
Boerboom has a guide dog, Ruffles, there's only so much Ruffles can do to
communicate. She used the app to find a bus bench at the bus stop.
As Boerboom navigates her world, she agrees things can always make
improvements. For her, she said, that is the most exciting thing about the
future.
"Self driving cars! Some blind people want it, some don't," she said. "A lot of
sighted people are going, 'oh my gosh we don't want a blind person on the
road,' I see it as a positive. It can only help. Who knows where we'll be in
five to ten years with the technology. If you're disabled, it's a decent time
to be alive."
Any one can download Be My Eyes from an app store. It's free to use and if you
are sighted and want to volunteer, all you need is a willing heart.
https://www.kare11.com/mobile/article/news/local/breaking-the-news/be-my-eyes-allows-blind-people-to-see-by-proxy/89-a413aae6-f386-4946-a504-83bbbb751e6c
David Goldfield
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.info<http://WWW.DavidGoldfield.info>
