Project description
New platform brings sight to the blind
Blind people face numerous everyday challenges that are not always obvious, such as reading text labels and product packaging. This makes it hard to check the expiration date of their food and protect themselves from a food allergy. The EU-funded BEMYEYES project will develop and bring to market the largest cost-free crowdsource mobile platform. It is designed especially for the blind and visually impaired, lending them a ‘pair of eyes’ when they need it. This is the first platform to connect blind people with sighted volunteers and company representatives through a live video call who can solve any issue via live connection, screen sharing and screen control.
Objective
In spite of being a minority, there are 36 million blind and 217 million visually impaired people in the world, with 25 million living within the EU. To them, trivial, but important things most people do not pay attention to, such as looking into the expiration date from food, read the allergen information on a food label or getting a can of coconut milk from the pantry, are daunting tasks. However, these discouraging moments follow a recognizable pattern within their everyday life. Hans Jørgen Wiberg, the inventor of Be My Eyes (and visually impaired himself), recognized this thanks to his work at “The Danish Association of the Blind”. In January 2015, the start-up BME IVS launched Be My Eyes, the largest cost-free crowdsource mobile platform, especially designed for the blind and visually impaired, lending them a “pair of eyes” when they need it. Through a live video connection, our 58,000 blind and visually impaired users can ask any of our 865,000 sighted volunteers for help to overcome their challenges, 24 hours a day in more than 130 languages. Now, we have decided to move to the next level and create Be My Eyes Enterprise, the first mobile platform where companies (our clients) provide visually-adapted customer service to their customers. By just pressing a button our platform connects the customer with specialized agents, who can solve any issue via live connection, screen sharing and screen control. We have already formal agreements with corporate clients such as Microsoft or Lloyds Bank, thus proving the viability from our business model. The global market of assistive technology is expected to grow at an annual CAGR of 6.9% until 2019. Hence, this is a growing market which lacks companies offering visually-adapted customer service. With Be My Eyes Enterprise, we want to seize this business opportunity, anticipating revenues of €11.7 million by 2024, whilst creating 30 new direct jobs within the company to satisfy our growth needs.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3500 VAERLOSE
Denmark
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.