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Be My Eyes – Lend your eyes to the blind

bemyeyes.org

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

#61

Post by yawz »

khebbie wrote: post #31
yawz wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, thank you. I was also wondering what kind of problems this app is solving. I'm not visually impaired so I'm probably not good at imagining real-world scenarios where this app can be useful. It sounds like a great idea and very promising.

Well: "Does my socks match" "Is this milk too old" "which of the three cans in front of me is the coconut milk" Only the imagination of the users sets the limit...

I'm assuming (maybe wrongly and naively) that those are already solved problems. I'm assuming a visually impaired person already has his/her routines to avoid those problems. That's why I wanted to hear from the users of the app. For example, a volunteer who helped someone.

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

#62

Post by kszx »

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…

For these kinds of services, the introduction of a payment can change supply and demand in very unexpected ways.

Example: There once was an experiment with blood donations, where a payment for the blood donation actually decreased the number of people who were willing to donate. Apparently, receiving a payment for an activity that seems charitable makes some people feel bad.

A similar effect might happen if Blind My Eyes introduced payments. (While this particular effect would reduce supply, this does not necessarily imply that the introduction of a payment would lead to a negative change in supply. It's just one factor.)

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

#63

Post by tlrobinson »

johlindenbaum wrote: post #15
rlpb wrote: post #7

Are there any legal consequences if a blind person is helped crossing the street and gets hit by a car?

It wouldn't be any different than the passenger in your car telling you, like "clear right". Any resulting accident is still the driver's fault afaik.

I have heard that if you were to, say, wave someone through at a stop sign and they got in an accident you could be held liable.

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

#64

Post by JshWright »

yawz wrote: post #61
khebbie wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well: "Does my socks match" "Is this milk too old" "which of the three cans in front of me is the coconut milk" Only the imagination of the users sets the limit...

I'm assuming (maybe wrongly and naively) that those are already solved problems. I'm assuming a visually impaired person already has his/her routines to avoid those problems. That's why I wanted to hear from the users of the app. For example, a volunteer who helped someone.

Here's an example from real life (in person, not via this app).

I have a buddy who is blind. In the US, paper currency is all the same size and shape, so it's impossible to distinguish them by feel alone. He uses a system of folds to remember which bill is which, but if he drops one, or the cashier doesn't tell him what the denominations are, etc..., he ends up not know which bill is which. Occasionally that means he has to ask someone, despite having a 'routine' that is generally very effective.

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

#65

Post by wingerlang »

robmcm wrote: post #42
khebbie wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do have abuse handling

Not only intentional abuse, but what about lag? Especially when say, crossing the road!

I will only assume that crossing the road is not a huge problem for blind people. I am sure most know how to do it safely, traffic light sounds or simply asking someone to help. I doubt anyone would rely on internet/videochat for something as high precision as that.

I don't know anyone blind, so I might be wrong on some part(s).

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

#67

Post by ndarilek »

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's hard to tell. Then there's the issue of needing some degree of call control so connections can be terminated for using too much time, which the hosted SIP services I looked at don't seem to allow. And, unfortunately, the hardest problem of the launch list is the one I need to get right, meaning I've spent months looking for a good, low-cost, cross-platform (desktop, Android and IOS) video exchange solution and have only recently found something that may work. It's possible that I've just used bad Google keywords or something, but none of the legacy SIP servers seem to like being plugged into a web app as opposed to managing everything themselves.

So, yeah, definitely not abandoned, I've just spent way more time than I liked finding a possibly good media server, plus continuing to earn money so I can keep the lights on and pay the rent. :) Hoping for a launch in the next couple months, assuming my current path pays off.

BTW, how the hell do you accessibly (I.e. via the keyboard) click the button to submit comments here? :P I have to poke around on my touchscreen until I find it, then double-tap. Surely there's a better way?

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

#69

Post by khebbie »

yawz wrote: post #61
khebbie wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well: "Does my socks match" "Is this milk too old" "which of the three cans in front of me is the coconut milk" Only the imagination of the users sets the limit...

I'm assuming (maybe wrongly and naively) that those are already solved problems. I'm assuming a visually impaired person already has his/her routines to avoid those problems. That's why I wanted to hear from the users of the app. For example, a volunteer who helped someone.

Well I have helped someone, find the right CD. The examples mentioned are all from usages of the app.

The idea for the app came from Hans Jørgen Wiberg who himself has tunnel vision. He worked for the danish blind society, where he taught blind people to cook. One thing he often heard was "If only I could have a pair of eyes a few minutes a day..." He also knew of blind people who used facetime to connect to their loved ones. But the good thing about this concept is that you just say "Thank you" and disconnect and you are done with it, you don't owe someone a favour.

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

#70

Post by ndarilek »

kszx wrote: post #62
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…

For these kinds of services, the introduction of a payment can change supply and demand in very unexpected ways. Example: There once was an experiment with blood donations, where a payment for the blood donation actually decreased the number of people who were willing to donate. Apparently, receiving a payment for an activity that seems charitable makes some people feel bad. A similar effect might happen if Blind My…

As a blind person, I find the idea that my borrowing someone's eyes is viewed as a charitable thing somewhat bothersome, particularly if I'm doing it to use my time more efficiently.

Put another way, sure I can wait 6 hours or so until a sightling happens to be around so I can read a letter, but how is me paying a few bucks for someone's time to do it now any different than you paying for Uber, Lyft, etc. instead of taking a bus?

Further, while I support this initiative, I have to wonder how sustainable it will be in the long run. I used to occasionally use Solona, a CAPTCHA-solving service that relied on volunteers. Unfortunately I can't seem to find it anymore (only searched briefly) and I recall many instances where volunteers weren't available. A marketplace that exchanges micropayments for these types of services, usable on a variety of platforms and with easy notifications for assistants, is something I've personally wanted for a very long time.

Disclosure: I'm working on such a thing, hoping to launch in 2-3 months.

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