Be My A Eye uses AI (Artificial Intelligence) to announce what is on a countertop, desk, or patio in wonderfully full detail, but it makes mistakes!

Here’s a photo of my deck and here’s the description

“The picture shows a cozy outdoor deck area of a house. The house has a cream-colored siding with blue trim around the windows and door. The door is white with a window at the top half, and there is a window to the left of the door with a small flower box containing purple and white flowers. The deck floor is wooden with a warm brown tone.

On the deck, there is a round metal table with a glass top and two metal chairs with a mesh design. To the right of the door, there’s a yellow pot with bright orange flowers on the deck floor.”

For an overall impression it’s unmatched. But it makes mistakes: There is no glass top on the table and The yellow pot with orange flowers is on the left of the photo on the table. The description continues with more good details and minor mistakes!

Be My A Eye was Launched in April 2023 as an additional feature on the volunteer assistance app Be My Eyes.

You take a photo and the Be My A Eye analyzes it and announces the description. It’s very simple to use once you open the second tab along the bottom of Be My Eyes:

1. Take a picture of the item or area you want described making sure you have your phone level and lined up straight. When I didn’t the results were confusing!
2. After about 20 seconds Be My A Eye gives a very full, amazing description, but placement is often wrong.

Be My A Eye can also be used to find things especially if the item contrasts well with the background. Here’s how:

1. Take a picture of the area where you think the item is.
2. If Be My A Eye refers to your lost item, go to “Ask More” and put “guide me to it” in the message bar. Be My A Eye will offer to call a volunteer, or you can choose the AI guide.
3. The guide me to it feature is great though it might get the exact placement wrong, but now you can find it with a hand or close up search.

Because of the confusion with placement and some detail,  Be My A Eye is not safe to use for anything potentially hazardous like medications or for use on the street. At present it is using a fairly early version of Chat GPT and this may change.

Be My Eyes is a Danish app linking volunteers with anyone with vision loss needing assistance with a task. It was launched in 2015 and says it has 7 million volunteers. The service does require a smartphone so the volunteer can use the video chat feature.

The founder of Be My Eyes is Hans Jorgen Wiberg who is still very much involved. He is being honored in the Vista Center’s Sight Tech Global event this month. Morgan Pimentel Technology Instructor for the Vista Center  assisted me with this post.