The ancient Greek philosopher Plato is credited with the famous proverb “necessity is the mother of invention.”  A great example is Be My Eyes, founded by Hans Jørgen Wiberg.  Through Be My Eyes, he created an online community that connects visually impaired users and sighted volunteers. It enables the blind users to “borrow” the eyes of the sighted, if just for a few minutes in a day.

As shared in a TED talk at TEDx Copenhagen, the idea for Be My Eyes was inspired partially by his own struggles with impaired vision, and partially from his consultative work for the Danish Blind Society. As a consultant, his role was to visit visually impaired people in their homes, hear their challenges, and advise them on how to more effectively navigate daily life.   During these visits, Hans most often heard how much more independent his clients could be if only they had a pair of seeing eyes to help them through situations just once or twice a day, without feeling like a constant burden to their friends and family.

From there, the Be My Eyes app was born.  It enables the visually impaired user to instantly reach a volunteer, globally, who can then see through a video connection whatever the user needs help with – ingredients on a label or whether it’s safe to cross the street – you name it.  The volunteers lend their eyes to make the world a better place, and it couldn’t be easier or more convenient to be there for someone in need.  As a volunteer you get a notification on your device and if you are available, you accept the call, if not the user is routed to someone else.

Additionally, the Be My Eyes app is integrated with many commercial partners and their processes, to enable improved accessibility for their customers and employees alike.  Partners include Google, Microsoft and Verizon to name a few.  Use cases include connecting blind or low-vision users to a customer support agent that can see through the user’s mobile device via a dedicated agent app.

Most recently, in September 2024, Be My Eyes entered into a partnership with Meta that will integrate the Be My Eyes technology with Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.  Users will be able to access the Be My Eyes application and request the assistance of a volunteer with a voice command, and look oh so stylish while doing so!  The hands-free aspect of this method will surely take the experience to the next level of ease.

Now let’s focus on an actual user – Michael Sincic:  legally blind creator of amazing watercolor art and gifted story teller.

Michael was born with normal vision and enjoyed a wonderful childhood with loving parents and siblings.  He played hockey, appreciated nature and loved to doodle.  Michael loved to get up early and watch the sunrise from his porch.  Around age 11 he started experiencing symptoms that included visual impairments and by age 13 a brain tumor was discovered.  Doctors were eventually able to remove the brain tumor and save Michael’s life, however the tumor had severed his optic nerve and left him blind.

Michael was able to gradually re-engage in school and had to relearn how to do almost everything.  In high school he was introduced to art therapy.  He very much enjoyed the new outlet for expressing feelings and the creativity it fostered.  Some of the more memorable projects were “the texture of my feelings,” and the creation of a family portrait using torn strips of construction paper.  Texture of my feelings involved the use of clay and creation of a shape based on different feelings.  For Michael, a smooth ball in warm colors represented a great day;  a dark triangle represented rough day; a crazy day was represented by a twisted cylinder. The classmates would then discuss the days – the why behind the feelings and associated coping mechanisms.  The family portrait project was also a springboard for discussion about each family member and what they were like.

It was a project with watercolors that solidified his interest in art.  Michael enjoyed the medium, the smoothness of the brush across the page.  He was able to express the beauty in nature he so very much enjoyed when he had his sight.  Michael shared that there are plusses and minuses to having had his sight for some time before the tumor.  On the plus side, he had context on which to build for mobility training and other challenges, and was overall grateful to have had vision if only for a short time.  On the down side, he new the beauty of what he was missing.  Water colors with a focus on landscapes allowed him a new way to express and enjoy that beauty.  Michael decided to take some marketing classes and eventually combined business knowledge with his love of watercolors to create a career for himself.

Michael learned about the Be My Eyes app through The Bureau of Services for the Blind, and has been a user for about 10 years.  For him, it’s a godsend.  It has made him so much more independent.  He doesn’t always have to ask Mom and Dad or the same friends for help.  Examples of the help he’s needed and received are varied.  With his business, he receives his prints from the printer and then has to catalog and store them so he can properly fulfill customer orders.  The problem is he can’t always tell the prints apart and will use Be My Eyes for help identifying each print.  This is how he met Dr. Marlene Wust-Smith, Publisher of Physician Outlook!  He also puts together gift bags and needs help identifying correct the products to include.  Michael has also used the app to read mail, and has experienced the commercial side of Be My Eyes, where calls to a support center are facilitated via use of the app.

For more information on Michael Sincic or to purchase his art visit his website!

As of this writing, the Be My Eyes app has 725,546 users, and over 8 million volunteers!  According to iapb.org, 43 million + people are blind, globally. Please help get the word out on this wonderful technology – there are many more people who need help, and no shortage of volunteers.