There are apps for to get wake up calls from strangers, apps for strangers to bring you things, and apps for hugs from strangers. Now a new app from Danish developers Robocat lets strangers volunteer their time in a refreshingly altruistic way.
The app—called Be My Eyes—asks people to do exactly as its name suggests. Volunteers can sign up to receive video calls from visually-impaired people when they need help identifying things. Volunteers can speak to their callers, seeing what’s in front of the blind person, to help them read labels, figure out if their milk has expired, read street signs, or whatever they need help discerning, like a one-way Skype video call.
“For visual impaired individuals smaller tasks in their home can often become bigger challenges,” Be My Eyes’ website says. The site also says that over 1,200 blind people have been helped so far.
The iPhone app first launched a few months ago in Denmark, but is now available for download in the US and other countries, and Robocat says it is working on an Android version. Here’s the app in action: