🇩🇰 Denmark · Be My Eyes — AI Visual Assistance for Blind and Low Vision
Status: 🟩 COMPLETE 🟦 LIVING Section: 10 — AI and LLMs
| Vendor | Be My Eyes |
| Country/origin | 🇩🇰 Denmark (Copenhagen; globally distributed) |
| Recommended for AUS? | ✅ Strongly yes — accessibility mission; Danish/EU origin; GPT-4V powered; profound real-world benefit |
| Privacy summary | GDPR governed; EU data practices; Microsoft partnership for AI vision; standard consumer privacy; no data selling |
| Free tier | Yes — core Be My Eyes app and Be My AI (AI visual helper) are free |
| Paid tiers | The core app is free; specialised business services cost companies (not users) |
| First released | Be My Eyes: 2015; Be My AI (GPT-4V integration): 2023 |
| Last reviewed | June 2026 |
| Official site | https://bemyeyes.com |
What it is
Be My Eyes started as a human-powered accessibility tool: blind and low vision users could connect via video call with sighted volunteers worldwide, who would describe what the camera sees — “What does this label say?”, “Is the meat defrosted?”, “What colour is this shirt?”
In 2023, Be My Eyes integrated GPT-4V (OpenAI’s vision-capable AI) to create Be My AI — an AI that can see through the phone camera and describe what it sees, answer questions about images, and help blind and low vision users navigate the visual world, available 24/7 with no wait time.
Be My AI capabilities:
- Describe any image: Point the camera at anything — a product label, a meal, a receipt, a view outside — and the AI describes it in detail
- Read text: Read handwritten notes, printed labels, menus, signs, documents
- Identify colours: “What colour is this shirt?” / “Do these socks match?”
- Navigate interfaces: “Describe what’s on this screen” for apps without proper accessibility support
- Scene understanding: “What do I see out my window right now?” / “Describe this photo I just took”
- Product identification: Read barcodes, identify packaged goods
- Food and cooking assistance: “How long should I cook this?” (reading packaging) / “Are there any hazard warnings on this?”
Why this matters
For the approximately 450,000 Australians with blindness or low vision (source: Vision Australia), tools like Be My AI represent a meaningful increase in daily independence. Previously:
- Waiting for a volunteer to be available (sometimes minutes, sometimes longer)
- Hiring assistance for tasks
- Relying on family or friends
Now: immediate AI assistance for any visual question, 24/7, from anywhere with phone signal.
How to access from Australia
- Download the Be My Eyes app from the App Store or Google Play (free)
- Register as a blind/low vision user
- On the app’s main screen: tap Be My AI for the AI assistant, or Volunteer for a human helper
- For Be My AI: point your camera at what you want described → tap → AI responds in seconds
- Alternatively: tap the microphone and ask a question while pointing at something
Available in Australia with full AI features.
What it costs
Free for blind and low vision users. The Be My Eyes business model is:
- The app and Be My AI are free for all users
- Companies pay to have “Specialist” support channels embedded in the app (IKEA, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, and others pay to provide specialised support to their blind customers via Be My Eyes)
Australian accessibility context
- Vision Australia: approximately 450,000 Australians with blindness or low vision
- Be My Eyes has a strong Australian volunteer community (over 1 million volunteers globally; Australians are a significant proportion)
- NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) participants may be able to include assistive technology costs; Be My Eyes itself is free
- Australian Human Rights Commission’s guidance on technology accessibility aligns with the value Be My Eyes provides
Limitations and gotchas
- AI is not perfect at all visual tasks. Very small text, poor lighting, unusual fonts, or complex images may be described imperfectly. The human volunteer option is still available for complex or high-stakes situations.
- Internet required. The AI needs to send images to OpenAI’s servers for processing. Works on Wi-Fi and mobile data; not offline.
- Some image content may be filtered. As a GPT-4V powered product, Be My AI follows OpenAI’s content policies and may decline to describe certain types of images.
- Language. Works best in English; improving in other languages. Australian Indigenous language needs are not yet well-served.
- Not a medical device. Be My AI can describe a medication label but should not replace proper medical prescription management systems designed for accessibility.
The broader accessibility AI ecosystem
Be My Eyes is the most widely-known but other tools serve the same space:
| Tool | Platform | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Be My AI | iOS/Android | General visual assistance via camera |
| Microsoft Seeing AI (🇺🇸) | iOS (Windows) | Similar; Microsoft-built |
| Google Lookout (🇺🇸) | Android | Similar; Google-built; object and text reading |
| Envision AI (🇳🇱) | iOS/Android | Smart glasses + phone; subscription |
| Apple’s Accessibility (built-in) | iOS | Point and Speak; Door Detection; People Detection |
| OrCam (🇮🇱) | Smart glasses hardware | Wearable AI visual reader |
Be My Eyes benefits from community (both AI and human volunteers) making it more versatile than standalone tools.
See also
- multimodal-vision-audio — the underlying AI vision technology
- voice-synthesis — AI text-to-speech that enables audio description outputs
- apple-intelligence — Apple’s accessibility AI features on iPhone
Sources
- Be My Eyes official: bemyeyes.com
- Be My AI launch announcement (2023): blog.bemyeyes.com
- Vision Australia statistics (2024)
- OpenAI GPT-4V × Be My Eyes partnership documentation
- NDIS assistive technology guidance
- Human Rights Commission — disability and technology accessibility (2024)