A new virtual assistant answers blind people’s questions about everything around them.
The artificial intelligence is a new feature of the Be My Eyes appthat connects blind and visually impaired people with volunteers via video chat.
It can help with everyday tasks that many take for granted, such as knowing what color a piece of clothing is or what ingredients are in a supermarket product.
But those who depend on the app will soon be able to get their hands on this information without having to wait for a volunteer.
The new Virtual Volunteer tool uses image-to-text technology that allows blind people to photograph what they’re looking at and ask questions about it.
Lucy Edwards, a content creator and disability activist who has been blind for 10 years, tested the feature for Be My Eyes.
As someone who is “obsessed with fashion,” she was in tears when the assistant was able to describe in detail what a model was wearing in a Chanel catalog.
She said, ‘I’ve always dreamed of buying books like these. I know it sucks for me to cry over a book, but to me it’s more than that.’
She also used it to translate the name of products in a Chinese supermarket before the app offered her recipes where she could use the items.
Lucy was filmed using the app to navigate a gym and said the feature “gave back her autonomy.”
She previously spoke to Metro.co.uk during the pandemic about the lack of accessibility of Covid-19 tests.
CEO of Be My Eyes, Mike Buckley, told Mashable several users of the app did not like the human aspect of it.
Some said they “didn’t want to take a volunteer away from someone who might need them more” and others reported being “wary of calling a stranger or a paid agent.”
Mike said, “Until now, we haven’t seen a technology tool that would solve these needs quickly enough and accurately enough to launch something like this.”
The Denmark-based company says its AI has “a deeper level of understanding and conversational ability not yet seen in the field of digital assistants.”
If the Virtual Volunteer can’t answer questions correctly, it will automatically give users the option to talk to someone.
The virtual volunteer is still being tested, but Be My Eyes expects it to be available to the public for free later this year.
The company said: “Imagine navigating a train system in an unfamiliar place, traveling in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language, visiting websites and social media platforms, shopping online and a host of other ways that we know our community that will do. help us identify – the possibilities are limitless, and we’re just getting started.’
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