MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Expand Your Horizons
Be My Eyes
See the world together
Be My Eyes was created to help people who are blind or low-vision—connecting them, via a FaceTime-like chat, with volunteers who can help with basic tasks, like checking the expiration date on a milk carton.
But the app has had just as profound an impact on its volunteer community as on those it was designed to serve. “This concept of micro-volunteering and connecting people who just want to help each other out is very powerful,” says Alexander Hauerslev Jensen, the app’s community director. “This is just pure connection between people.”
Indeed, users of Be My Eyes have shared many beautiful moments.
There was the bride who asked a volunteer to check her wedding dress for stains just before going down the aisle. And Jensen still remembers the story of a sighted couple who started off their day helping a couple who are blind read their pregnancy test results.
Although early versions of the app had a gamification element, where volunteers earned points for participating, that’s no longer a feature. “We thought it would be difficult to get volunteers, but it’s actually proven to be the opposite,” Jensen says. Almost 4 million volunteers have signed up to assist more than 200,000 people in more than 150 countries and 180 languages. The commitment is minimal—most volunteers receive one or two calls every six months, and requests usually take only a few minutes.
Hans Jørgen Wiberg, the app’s inventor, who is blind, came up with the idea to serve his own needs. “He felt like a burden, always having to decide who to call and bother for help,” says Jensen. “Before, you would have to talk to your friends or family to get answers to your most personal questions; now you can get the answers in the privacy of your own home with everything anonymized.”
The simple nature of the app—which Wiberg had developers work on with their eyes closed—helps people who are sighted too. The organization has received emails from people with dyslexia asking if they may use the service. “It's not only blind people who need a pair of friendly eyes,” says Jensen.
One user who lives with sight loss described Be My Eyes as “a good deed waiting to happen in your pocket.” Whether you’re in need of help or want to lend a hand, it certainly has the power to change your day for the better.