Amir grins outside in front of an urn with orange and yellow flowers.
Community story, In the Workplace and at the Piano

In the Workplace and at the Piano

Amir, Iran, blind

Radio journalist and professional translator, Amir, finds Be My Eyes useful at work and at home. Amir’s job requires an awareness of his space and surroundings, or how many people are in a room with him. Be My Eyes volunteers bring him up to speed in unfamiliar environments or situations with descriptions and clarifications. According to him, Be My Eyes has revolutionized the way he navigates, as it is now easy for him to find, for example, the nearest elevator or the easiest path for him to walk with his white cane in an unfamiliar building.

I’ve been using iPhone from the day VoiceOver came out, but no application like Be My Eyes has altered my life as drastically. It just comforts me to know that there is an option, whenever I need assistance.

But the app can also foster a love for music.

One of Amir’s favorite hobbies is playing on his digital piano. Like all pianists, Amir can identify the keys of a piano by playing them. But the multitude of other buttons, their location and function, on the digital instrument can be hard to memorize. That’s where Be My Eyes comes in handy. When Amir wanted to record a piece of music and couldn't locate the ‘record’ button, he opened Be My Eyes. Recording sessions are more efficient for Amir, a small task that goes a long way with him, because he doesn’t feel the difference of these buttons.

I was surprised that a task that could have required 30 minutes on my side just took 2 minutes to complete.