Be My Eyes, a mobile app that assists visually impaired people, announced a new AI tool that will use OpenAI's GPT-4 new image parsing capability to describe photos to its users.
Users who are blind or have low vision can send an image they've taken
to the app's Virtual Volunteer, which will be able to identify and
answer questions about what's in the image.
- Currently,
Be My Eyes relies on human volunteers or company representatives to
offer help to the visually impaired through live video connections.
- While the new AI tool won't replace volunteers, it can assist app users in many cases.
- For
example, a user could send the app a photo of the items in their
refrigerator. Virtual Volunteer would attempt to identify the contents,
converse with the user, and send recipes for those particular
ingredients.
- Be My Eyes said it would soon start beta testing
the feature with its corporate customers, with a broader rollout planned
for later this year.
