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Good practice Imported

Be My Eyes — AI and Volunteer-Powered Visual Assistance

Denmark · Copenhagen · See the Denmark profile · See the Copenhagen profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 66% 56/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Be My Eyes, founded in Copenhagen in 2015, connects blind and low-vision users with sighted volunteers and, since 2023, AI image description for real-time visual assistance — reporting 750,000+ users and 8 million+ volunteers across 150 countries by January 2025.

750,000+
Blind and low-vision users (as of January 2025)
8,000,000+
Volunteers (as of January 2025)
150
Countries reached (as of January 2025)
1,000,000
Be My AI user sessions reached (within ~2 weeks of open beta, 2023)
$6.1 million
Funding round (January 2025) (January 2025)
~4 minutes
AI case resolution time (Microsoft Disability Answer Desk)
~12 minutes
Human agent case resolution time (comparison, Microsoft Disability Answer Desk)
90%+
AI resolution rate (Microsoft Disability Answer Desk)
Be My Eyes — AI and Volunteer-Powered Visual Assistance

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Be My Eyes ApS
Period
2015–present
Region (NUTS)
DK01
Keywords
assistive technology, accessibility, artificial intelligence, blindness, low vision

Context

Be My Eyes was founded in Copenhagen in 2015 by Hans Jorgen Wiberg, who has retinitis pigmentosa, to connect blind and low-vision users with sighted volunteers by live video call for everyday tasks such as reading labels, checking expiry dates or navigating unfamiliar spaces.

Objectives

Provide real-time visual assistance to blind and low-vision users by pairing a global volunteer network with, since 2023, AI-based image description ("Be My AI"), including an enterprise version integrated into partner support workflows such as Microsoft's Disability Answer Desk.

Activities

In 2023 the app added Be My AI, a GPT-4-based image-description feature that reached one million user sessions within about two weeks of its open beta. The enterprise version is co-published as a joint case study with Microsoft for use in Microsoft's Disability Answer Desk. In January 2025 the company raised a $6.1 million funding round, on its tenth anniversary, led by Enable Ventures with participation from the U.S. National Federation of the Blind.

Results

By January 2025 the company reported more than 750,000 blind and low-vision users and over 8 million volunteers across 150 countries. In the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk joint case study, the companies report the AI resolves cases in around four minutes versus twelve minutes for a human agent, with a 90%+ resolution rate.

Conclusions

Nearly all usage and impact figures - user counts, volunteer counts, AI resolution times - are self-reported by Be My Eyes or published jointly with corporate partners such as Microsoft; no independent, peer-reviewed evaluation of Be My Eyes' real-world impact on blind and low-vision users' lives was identified.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — Global consumer app plus enterprise product with a disclosed $6.1 million funding round (January 2025) and integration into a major partner's (Microsoft) support operations; no full operating budget given.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Continuous operation since 2015, roughly ten years, with a major product expansion (Be My AI) in 2023.
Staffing & skills
Be My Eyes ApS core team, global volunteer network (8M+ reported)

Conditions for success

  • Large, engaged volunteer base sustaining response capacity
  • AI-plus-human hybrid model combining GPT-4 image description with live volunteer calls
  • Enterprise partnerships (e.g., Microsoft Disability Answer Desk) to extend reach and funding

Common failure modes

  • Reliance on self-reported and partner-co-published metrics; no independent, peer-reviewed evaluation of real-world impact identified

Where it fits

Governance type
private company (Be My Eyes ApS), venture- and grant-backed
Scale
global (150 countries)
Income level
global, cross-income (freemium consumer app plus enterprise product)

Commonly funded by

Own resources / municipal budget

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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