For more than a decade, Be My Eyes has connected people who are blind or who have low vision with volunteers ready to lend their eyes and support. Just tap the app’s Call Volunteer button to start a video chat with someone who can help with basic tasks, such as reading a street sign or checking the expiration date on a milk carton.

The heart of the app is its community. Be My Eyes brings together more than 900,000 people receiving assistance and 9 million volunteers providing it. When we took the time to volunteer, the calls we answered brightened our day, turning even mundane moments into opportunities for genuine connection.

With the evolution of the Be My AI feature, the app can now also assist in moments too personal to share with strangers. Snap a photo of anything and Be My AI will read aloud a detailed description of what’s in the frame. When checking the results of a pregnancy test, for example, Be My AI can preserve your privacy – and let you decide whom to share the news with first.

Be My AI is also there for little moments. Although volunteers are always ready and willing, “there’s a real feeling of not wanting to bother others,” says Be My Eyes product evangelist (and user) Andy Lane. He often uses the AI to help with aesthetic choices. “I’ll put two shirts next to a pair of trousers and ask, ‘Which goes together better?’ Instead of Be My Eyes, it’s Be My Stylist.”

This year, Be My Eyes was a shining example of how humans and AI, working together, could solve a need. “If you’ve got Be My AI and the volunteers in your pocket, it breaks a barrier,” Lane says. “I can get out there, and it’s going to be OK.”

The app’s Groups feature lets users create a list of volunteers they’ve had positive interactions with. “Some users experience anxiety about speaking to new people,” Lane says.

Be My Eyes recently partnered with Amtrak to bring on-demand visual support with trained agents to passengers at 16 major US train stations, including New York’s Penn Station and Boston’s South Station. To use the feature, go to the Travel & Transportation section in the Service Directory menu and select Amtrak.

Be My Eyes was created by Hans Jørgen Wiberg, who began to lose his vision at the age of 25. Wiberg pitched his idea for the app at an entrepreneurs’ event in 2012; he launched Be My Eyes in 2015. A decade later, the app has grown to more than 900,000 users and more than 9 million volunteers in almost every country in the world.