I heard about this on BBC world Service earlier this year. Be My Eyes is a free app for visually impaired and blind people who could use a little help from a sighted person for everyday sorts of things.

The blind person connects with the Be My Eyes Service which, within one minute, connects them with someone who speaks their language and has volunteered help. The blind person shows the volunteer with her phone camera the item or situation in question and the sighted person on the phone tells them what they see. Examples given on bemyeyes.com are someone asking which of two cans contains tomatoes and whether the date on the milk carton suggests the milk is expired.

You can watch a short, interesting video at http://www.bbc.com/news/av/magazine-39056979/an-app-to-help-blind-people-to-see

Many language speakers are available, including the one my neighbor most needed to help here with stuff such as --Which one of these envelopes is from the kids' school, and which one is the recall letter on my husband's car? Do the cake mix directions say to put in three eggs?

Well connected people probably have known about this app for some time, as there are over half a million volunteers and nearly 37,000 blind or visually impaired people signed up to use it. My neighbor, who went blind as an adult after eye damagewhile being chased under bombfire from Iraq by Saddam Hussein, did not know about this, so I am really happy that BBC did the story and that I woke up in the middle of the night to hear it last winter.

Please share with anyone you think might like to volunteer or use the app.