Be My Eyes - AI-powered visual assistance for blind and low vision users

How It All Began

We often take the ability to see for granted. Every day, millions of people navigate the world through sight—reading labels, recognizing faces, finding their way around unfamiliar places. But for approximately 340 million blind and low-vision individuals worldwide, these everyday tasks become daily challenges that most sighted people never have to think about.

In 2015, Hans Jørgen Wiberg, a Danish craftsman with low vision, understood these challenges firsthand. He had a simple but powerful idea: what if we could connect people who need visual assistance with volunteers around the world who want to help? Within 24 hours of launching, 10,000 volunteers had already signed up. That overwhelming response told us something important—we weren't alone in believing this idea could change lives.

Today, Be My Eyes has grown into the world's largest online community for blind and low-vision individuals. We've connected nearly 10 million blind and low-vision users with more than 10 million global volunteers across 150+ countries, speaking 180+ languages. From reading product labels at the grocery store to navigating public transportation, our community is helping people experience the world with greater independence and confidence.

Our mission remains simple: make the world more accessible for blind and low-vision people. Every connection made through our platform represents a moment where someone regained independence, where a daily challenge was overcome, where the world became a little more inclusive.

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Core Features That Empower Independence

We designed Be My Eyes around one central idea: technology should serve human connection. Every feature we build starts with a question—how does this help someone live more independently?

Our Live Video Assistance feature uses WebRTC technology to connect blind users with volunteers in real-time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Whether someone needs help reading a medicine label at 2 AM or identifying the right bus route during morning commute, a volunteer is just a video call away. With support for over 180 languages, help crosses geographical and linguistic boundaries effortlessly.

Then we introduced Be My AI™, our AI-powered visual description tool integrated directly into the app. Using advanced computer vision and natural language processing, Be My AI can instantly describe what's in a photo, read text aloud, or identify objects. It's available instantly, any time of day—no waiting for a volunteer to become available. For users who need immediate answers or prefer autonomous solutions, Be My AI has become their reliable first line of support.

For businesses committed to accessibility, our Service Directory connects users with corporate partners' customer support channels. This integration has proven remarkably effective: up to 90% of support requests are resolved automatically through AI assistance, dramatically reducing wait times and improving customer satisfaction.

We also understand that different situations call for different solutions. That's why we've built Smartglasses Support for hands-free assistance during navigation or cooking, a Windows Desktop Application for users who prefer desktop environments, Be My Eyes Workplace for enterprises building inclusive work environments, and Corporate Volunteering programs that let companies empower their employees to serve their communities.

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Who Is Using Be My Eyes

Every person who uses Be My Eyes has their own story, their own daily challenges, and their own definition of what independence means. Let us share a few of the scenarios our users navigate every day.

Emma, a busy professional, shops for groceries every weekend. Before Be My Eyes, she couldn't read ingredient labels or compare prices independently. Now, she simply points her phone camera at a product, and within seconds, Be My AI reads the ingredients aloud. For items requiring more context—like choosing between similar-looking cleaning products—a quick video call with a volunteer helps her make the right choice. She's now managing her household entirely on her own.

David, a retired teacher, uses our platform almost daily for home organization. His vision impairment makes it difficult to find specific items in his kitchen drawers or identify matching clothes from his wardrobe. With Be My Eyes, he snaps a quick photo and gets immediate guidance on where he placed his keys or which tie complements his shirt. What seems trivial to sighted individuals becomes transformative for someone who previously relied on family members for these simple tasks.

Maria, an active community member, relies on Be My Eyes for navigation and travel. She uses the app to read bus schedules, identify street signs, and find building entrances in unfamiliar neighborhoods. Combined with smartglasses support, she navigates public transit with confidence she never thought possible, expanding her world well beyond familiar routes.

Robert, who works in IT support, discovered the value of our enterprise solutions when his company integrated Be My Eyes with Microsoft Disability Answer Desk. Now employees with visual impairments can connect directly with trained support agents who understand their specific needs, reducing resolution times by an average of 67%.

These aren't rare exceptions—they represent thousands of daily interactions across our platform. Whether it's reading a restaurant menu, understanding a medical prescription, or handling workplace documents, Be My Eyes is helping people live with greater autonomy.

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Technology Built on Trust

Building technology for people who depend on it for daily independence demands excellence in both capability and security. We take this responsibility seriously.

Our platform combines several sophisticated technologies working in harmony. WebRTC-based video streaming delivers real-time, low-latency video connections between users and volunteers anywhere in the world. Our AI visual recognition systems, powered by advanced computer vision and natural language processing models, can identify objects, read printed and handwritten text, describe complex scenes, and answer context-aware questions about images. We've even partnered with Meta to help train more inclusive AI models that better serve people with disabilities.

We believe accessibility should extend across every device and platform. That's why Be My Eyes is available as a native iOS and Android application, integrates with major smartglasses for hands-free operation, and offers a dedicated Windows desktop application optimized for screen reader compatibility.

For enterprise clients, we provide the Customer Accessibility Suite, which includes Service Directory for connecting users to corporate support channels, Service AI for automated assistance, and Service Connect for seamless integration with existing CRM and helpdesk systems.

We know that trust requires transparency and rigorous security. Be My Eyes has passed SOC 2 Type II audit, demonstrating our commitment to the highest standards of data security, availability, and confidentiality. Our comprehensive privacy policy, cookie policy, and accessibility policy are publicly available, and we maintain a real-time system status page so users always know whether services are operating normally.

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Enterprise Solutions for Inclusive Business

We believe accessibility isn't just the right thing to do—it's smart business. When enterprises embed accessibility into their customer service and workplace strategies, they unlock significant operational improvements while serving an underserved community.

Our Customer Accessibility Suite helps companies transform how they serve customers with visual impairments. The numbers speak for themselves: organizations using our enterprise solutions have achieved 90% automatic resolution rates through AI-powered assistance, 67% faster average resolution times, 5% improvement in customer satisfaction scores, and 75% increased service capacity without adding proportionally to support staff workload.

The success story from Microsoft Disability Answer Desk illustrates this impact. By integrating Be My Eyes into their support infrastructure, Microsoft enabled blind and low-vision customers to connect directly with trained agents who could provide real-time visual assistance through video calls. The result: dramatically improved first-contact resolution rates and significantly higher customer satisfaction among users who previously struggled to get effective support through traditional channels.

Our enterprise offerings extend beyond customer service. Be My Eyes Workplace helps companies create truly inclusive work environments for blind and low-vision employees—everything from collaborative tools adapted for screen readers to training resources that help teams work more effectively together. Corporate Volunteering programs let businesses engage their employees in meaningful volunteer activities, supporting the broader Be My Eyes community while strengthening company culture.

We're proud to partner with leading organizations including Microsoft, Google, Zendesk, Salesforce, Hilton, Procter & Gamble, Barilla, National Federation of the Blind, RNIB, NHS, and Zain. Each partnership reflects our shared commitment to a more inclusive world.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Join Our Community

Whether you're someone who could benefit from visual assistance, a volunteer wanting to make a difference, or a business ready to build accessibility into your DNA, there's a place for you in the Be My Eyes community.

Download the app today and discover what independence feels like. Visit bemyeyes.com to learn more about our enterprise solutions. Together, we're building a world where everyone can see the possibilities.