Preview of the Virtual Volunteer interface

Be My Eyes, a company dedicated to improving accessibility for people who are blind or have low vision, is beta testing its new Virtual Volunteer tool, soon to be integrated into the Be My Eyes app.  

Powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 language model, Be My Eyes said it will allow users to send images to a virtual volunteer which can answer questions about the image and provide instantaneous visual assistance for a wide variety of tasks. 

What sets the Virtual Volunteer tool apart from other image-to-text technology is its ability to understand context and provide conversational responses, the company said. For example, if a user sends a picture of the inside of their refrigerator, Virtual Volunteer can not only identify what's in it but also suggest recipes and provide step-by-step guides on how to make them. If the tool is unable to answer a question, users have the option to connect with a sighted volunteer. 

Be My Eyes plans to expand the group of beta testers, aiming to make Virtual Volunteer widely available in the coming months. The tool will be free for all blind and low-vision community members using the Be My Eyes app. Users can register for the waiting list to test-drive the Virtual Volunteer tool at www.bemyeyes.com/