Be My Eyes, the accessibility app for mobile devices that puts blind and low-vision people on a live video call with a sighted guide, will help Microsoft train its AI by providing anonymized video data to improve scene understanding in Microsoft’s accessibility-focused AI models. The data sets from Be My Eyes will include “unique objects, lighting and framing that realistically represents the lived experience of the blind and low vision community,” with the goal of making Microsoft’s AI more inclusive for people with vision disabilities. All personal info has been scrubbed from the metadata, and the provided data won’t be used for advertising or any purpose other than training Microsoft’s AI models. This collaboration marks Be My Eyes’ first data partnership with Microsoft, following their previous work together incorporating the Be My AI tool into Microsoft’s Disability Answer Desk to assist people with vision disabilities in navigating Office, Windows, and Xbox. Additionally, Be My Eyes recently struck a deal with Hilton to provide blind and low-vision lodgers with dedicated hotel staff to assist with tasks such as adjusting thermostats, making coffee, and raising or lowering blinds, building on their previous partnership in 2023 to train the Be My AI model.
