Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind • Hacker News Board

Re: Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

#151

Post by kimburgess » Fri, Jan 16, 2015, 10:58 AM UTC

ndarilek wrote: post #67

mwcampbell wrote: post #21

Nice idea, but I think it would be better if it were commercial, with the blind user paying, the sighted helper getting paid, and the app developers getting a cut. The payment could be by the minute. I think the general public will be more inclined to treat blind people as equals if we demolish the notion that blind people require charity. Addendum: Lest anyone think I'm talking out of my ass, here's a blog post from…

Actually, I haven't abandoned it--literally working on it this very minute, in fact. :) The problem is that multi-platform video interchange is a hard problem. Very hard. SIP only gets you so far even with web RTC, then you hit issues where server X doesn't like delegating authentication to anything else, Y does but requires super-indepth knowledge of the protocol, and Z may or may not but it's got so many modules it…

Ah yes, cross platform video. The bane of anyone who has ever worked with videoconferencing systems. If you're still working on it (ditto for the authors of Be My Eyes) it may be worth getting in touch with someone along the lines of Pexip[1] to see if they're interested in assisting with infrastructure and handling of media so that it's possible to focus on wrapping that is some beautiful UX for this use case.

[1] http://pexip.com/

Re: Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

#152

Post by ZoFreX » Fri, Jan 16, 2015, 2:06 PM UTC

ndarilek wrote: post #86

ndarilek wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I haven't abandoned it--literally working on it this very minute, in fact. :) The problem is that multi-platform video interchange is a hard problem. Very hard. SIP only gets you so far even with web RTC, then you hit issues where server X doesn't like delegating authentication to anything else, Y does but requires super-indepth knowledge of the protocol, and Z may or may not but it's got so many modules it…

Also, something else that bothers me a bit about lots of the comments in this thread: It's nice that people want to keep things free and to avoid the influence that money might bring to a thing. But the unfortunate reality is that we live in a society that doesn't let me buy groceries, beer or housing with goodwill. Sure, help is a good thing, and I'm the last person who wants to live in a society where our interacti…

Off-topic, but what audio-only games can you recommend?

Re: Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

#153

Post by hrjet » Fri, Jan 16, 2015, 2:16 PM UTC

nolk100 wrote: post #30

mwcampbell wrote: post #21

Nice idea, but I think it would be better if it were commercial, with the blind user paying, the sighted helper getting paid, and the app developers getting a cut. The payment could be by the minute. I think the general public will be more inclined to treat blind people as equals if we demolish the notion that blind people require charity. Addendum: Lest anyone think I'm talking out of my ass, here's a blog post from…

I'd feel pretty cheeky helping a blind person if I was doing it just to get paid for it. Similarly, I wouldn't help an old lady cross the street then ask for a pound.

What if there was a setting: "I only provide service for free" / "I accept payments for my service" in your profile?

Such a setting could even be on a per-case basis. Imagine if you helped someone for a good part of a day, and they were ready to return the favor in cash, and you were given the choice to accept or decline it.

Re: Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

#154

Post by xutopia » Fri, Jan 16, 2015, 2:34 PM UTC

joshdance wrote: post #2

This is my lack of experience, but how does a blind person launch the app and find the correct button to push? I have toyed around with the Accessibility Features on the iPhone, is there a mode that will speak out what you are tapping on?

With Siri you can just press the home button for 2 seconds and say: "Open Be My Eyes" and it will open it up for you.

Re: Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

#155

Post by aluhut » Fri, Jan 16, 2015, 3:24 PM UTC

leapius wrote: post #93

If only there was an Android version I'd be on it right now. In fact I think it would actually be quite an enjoyable past time answering requests, especially for lonely people. Think about how interesting it would be to help out a complete stranger from anywhere in the world. I think it would become quite addicting.

Not only lonely. Just bored.

I also hope for a release on Android soon.

Re: Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

#156

Post by wazoox » Fri, Jan 16, 2015, 5:25 PM UTC

FleshGordon wrote: post #148

WalterBright wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not blind, but my father had low vision and so I know a little about the experience. It infuriates me that authors have pressured Amazon into removing the audio text reading ability of the Kindle. Such small-minded greed is indefensible.

Most books exist as audio books.

You mean "a very small subset of all books exist in the more expensive form of an audio book". Just check the library closest to you: 10000s of books, 100s of audio books.

Re: Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

#157

Post by boomlinde » Fri, Jan 16, 2015, 6:21 PM UTC

mwcampbell wrote: post #21

Nice idea, but I think it would be better if it were commercial, with the blind user paying, the sighted helper getting paid, and the app developers getting a cut. The payment could be by the minute. I think the general public will be more inclined to treat blind people as equals if we demolish the notion that blind people require charity. Addendum: Lest anyone think I'm talking out of my ass, here's a blog post from…

The blind people are already outnumbered by the sighted, pretty much 1:10. Turns out blind people don't use phones with touch screens.

Re: Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

#158

Post by jsta » Fri, Jan 16, 2015, 6:42 PM UTC

Am I the only person that saw this app and immediately thought of google glass?

Re: Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

#159

Post by hellbanner » Fri, Jan 16, 2015, 7:32 PM UTC

Mostly sighted users on this app.. when will I be able to see for someone?

Re: Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

#160

Post by tomjen3 » Fri, Jan 16, 2015, 7:57 PM UTC

modzilla wrote: post #74

ndarilek wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I haven't abandoned it--literally working on it this very minute, in fact. :) The problem is that multi-platform video interchange is a hard problem. Very hard. SIP only gets you so far even with web RTC, then you hit issues where server X doesn't like delegating authentication to anything else, Y does but requires super-indepth knowledge of the protocol, and Z may or may not but it's got so many modules it…

I don't know the answer to your question but it should be a required exercise for every web developer to use their website with a screen reader and a blindfold. It would change the way they/we build websites. I would submit an issue to HN to fix their accessibility – there is no excuse (for HN) not to. Edit: Sentence subject-ambiguity clarification.

That would be stupid for most sites - only a small minority of customers are blind and it isn't worth changing the entire site for them (unless you are amazon or you get it for free by using standard HTML things like links, buttons, etc).

And before you scream ADA, that is a) nationalistic (not all web developers are in the US) b) usually something that can be worked around - e.g. put your phone number on the site as an alternative.