For the 25 million blind and visually impaired people within the EU, simple everyday tasks, present a daunting challenge that can leave them dependent on the help of relatives and carers and there is a very narrow set of options focused at facilitating their daily lives. This challenge is exacerbated by the small number of companies who adapt their services to the needs of blind and visually impaired users compared to the rest of their customers. Specialized Help from Be My Eyes will build on our existing award-winning digital crowdsourcing app ‘Be My Eyes’ to connect our existing visually impaired user base of 100,000 individuals to customer support functions in subscribing companies. Be My Eyes is in the unique position of being able to provide both the technology and the users to companies who subscribe to our service allowing them to service the visually impaired community, improve their CSR and accessibility agendas and gain relevant product feedback through a single, integrated user platform. Specialised Help will be developed to a fully commercialised product meeting the customer needs as determined by a SME Instrument Phase 1 Feasibility Study. We estimate that within 5 years of product launch we will have sold 185 Specialized Help licenses achieving revenues of €54.3m. We will have hired 30 additional new employees and will control 4.7% of the European market. The return on the project investment in the third year of commercialisation would be 16.98.

NewWorkTech engages in research-based enhancement of the work-related capacities of a) people with disabilities and b) the general workforce, with particular focus on technologically mediated tasks and interaction. The project covers the entire arc of development from empirical research into how people with disabilities – as forerunners of technology use – perform tasks and interact at work, to theoretical innovation regarding the nature of socio-material assemblages as well as what constitutes technology, to policy recommendations, and to the development of new technological solutions, including AI-based technologies. We consider people with disabilities to be experts in using technical systems to improve their work performance, and through an analysis of a variety of use cases, will identify elements of successful use as well as factors that cause problems for interaction or the performance of tasks. Empirical results will also be generated by surveys and co-creation activities. People with disabilities will be engaged in NewWorkTech in line with the principle “nothing about us without us”. NGO partners will be actively involved as facilitators in the empirical research and as drivers of application and dissemination. Through our own technological development effort, attention to the ethical use of technologies, and the dissemination of the knowledge we generate, the results will feed into improved usage methods and functionality of work-related technologies, as well as knowledge about the required skills. The smart use of technology thus achieved will help create employment opportunities for people with disabilities, improving their quality of life and reducing inequalities while also helping alleviate the current shortage of labour in Europe, and open possibilities for more efficient and creative use of technology by everyone, whether they have physical or cognitive limitations or not.

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.