SPOKANE, Wash. — Everyday tasks can quickly become difficult for people who are blind but technology has made their lives easier.
The free Be My Eyes app connects people who are blind or visually impaired to a volunteer through video chat.
It is one of many apps and devices that helps with navigation, reading and identifying objects, among other tasks.
"Be My Eyes can be used for everyday kind of things. Like I know people who have called up and said, 'Is my makeup good?,' you know, 'Do my clothes match?'" said Vivian Huschke, vision rehab instructor at Lilac Services for the Blind.
The app runs on volunteers. When a visually impaired person requests help through the app, it connects them with the first available person on the other end.
The volunteer can then see whatever the caller's phone is pointed at and assist with describing what they see.
But it isn't always fast. Huschke said that volunteers are sometimes unavailable right away and having to wait can be an inconvenience.
According to the app's homepage, there are more than 2.5 million volunteers and 142,276 users who are blind. But not every volunteer speaks the correct language or is available 24 hours a day.
"Seeing for me is like looking through a really dirty, murky aquarium, and light just kind of flickers through," Huschke said.
She lost her sight twice and said the adjustment both times was a learning curve.
"Frustration builds up if you aren't able to do something that you used to be able to do. There is that frustrating bit. But we borrow each others eyes around here, literally," Huschke said.
Between technology and her support system, Huschke doesn't let being blind hold her back. She cooks, river rafts and plays baseball, despite people being surprised that she can do those things.
She said it's about believing in what people can do rather than what they cannot do.
"If there was a good time to be a blind person, now I guess is a good time," Huschke said.