Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much
appreciated.
Close
Ad Feedback
Ad Feedback
App lends eyes to the blind
A new South African app allows volunteers to remotely assist blind people using images, text and voice messages.
BeSpecular, launched by a South Afrian start up of the same name, lets the visually impaired submit requests such as asking which sugar jar to pick. The volunteer replies using a text or audio message, which is read out to the blind person at the other end.
BeSpecular
The users can snap a picture of anything, such as a restaurant menu or dish.
AFP/Getty Images
Other requests may involve anything from helping to figure out the color of socks, or reading labels on medicine jars. At the end, the users can rate each other and decide if they want to be connected again.
BeSpecular
The app's algorithm links people of similar age living in the same part of the world. This makes it easier to answer age and culturally-specific questions, according to the founders.
BeSpecular
The company says the aim is to make life easier for the 285 million people estimated to be visually impaired worldwide -- 39 million of which are blind, according to the World Health Organization.
AFP/Getty Images
BeSpecular isn't the only app helping the visually impaired. Mobile camera application TapTapSee automatically identifies objects, while Danish app Be My Eyes enables users to interact directly through a live video feed.
BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images
BeSpecular's CEO Stephanie Cowper received the Forbes Woman Techpreneur of the Year Award in November 2016. She conceived the idea in 2014 with college classmate Giacomo Parmeggiani from Italy, now CTO.