The eyes are the most beautiful but sensitive organ of our body, which enables us to see the beauty of the whole world. But we often take this gift for granted and end up having eye health issues. Today, on 12th Oct, the world is celebrating WORLD SIGHT DAY (WSD) with the motive of spreading awareness regarding eye care or eye health issues. The International Agency for the Prevention of Blind Coordination (IAPB) organises a LOVE YOUR EYES campaign around the globe to promote healthy eye habits among the masses. The theme of this year’s WSD is “Love your eyes at work.” It focuses on helping people understand the importance of protecting their vision at their respective workplaces. The target of this year's campaign is to reach the figure of 10 million sight test pledges. Companies are requested to host workplace screenings to motivate employers to implement change. You should also take part in this campaign and contribute to change.
5 Best Apps for Visually Impaired People
You will be shocked to know that there are 2.2 Billion in the world who are suffering from vision impairment. Accessing simple information can be a tough task for them, and they face these types of challenges in their daily lives. But thanks to the evolution of the technology that revolutionised the eyecare industry. Over the decade, eyecare app development has witnessed immense growth and has helped millions of partially sighted people. These applications are proven to be lifesavers for the blind or low-vision community and are affordable for everyone. These apps are incorporated with AI and other modern technologies that assist users in exploring the world like a normal person. Take a look at the details of the 5 most amazing apps for visually impaired people that make the lives of their users easy.
Be My Eyes
Be My Eyes is a reliable app that pairs blind or visually impaired people with sighted volunteers who assist them in their daily tasks like matching clothes or knowing the expiry date of a product, etc. It connects both sides using a smartphone app and camera and notifies users through a monotonous ring. It is the first-ever app with a virtual volunteer feature that allows users to send images via the app and receive detailed description instructions for a variety of tasks.
TapTapSee
TaptapSee is a mobile camera application that is specially designed for blind or partially sighted people. It utilises assistive technology such as CloudSight Image Recognition APIs, which allow users to accurately identify objects they encounter in their daily lives. This app does not require the assistance of sighted people; you only need to take a photo at any angle, and then the app will read the description of the object. The main features of this app include a Roter reader, Flash toggle, picture recognition and the ability to repeat the last description, which enhances the user experience.
Seeing AI
Seeing AI was introduced by Microsoft in 2017 for the iPhone operating system. From currency recognition to giving details about people's emotions, this app offers a wide range of features. It is a multipurpose app that can identify objects, text, and or even people using the rear camera of the smartphone. It narrates the surroundings into audible experiences and even informs about other people’s emotions for visionary impaired people and makes their challenging life easy to some extent. This app is available in 70 countries and supports several languages, such as Dutch, French, German, Japanese, Spanish and English.
Lookout
Lookout is the equivalent app to Seeing AI, but for Android only. The camera and sensors recognise all kinds of documents, texts and environments and relay the relevant information. It has different modes, such as texts, food labels, images, documents, currency and exploration, that are used to identify different things. Lookout’s notifications are designed in such a way that they create minimal disturbance so that users can’t get distracted in their work. This app is built with guidance from the blind and low-vision community with the motive of making the world accessible to every being.
Supersense
Supersense is the smartest assistive app fueled by unique AI technology and a super accessible user interface. It helps blind or impaired people to explore their surroundings while assisting them with everything they come across. This app is free, but it also comes with various subscription plans that provide users with some advanced features such as a smart scanner, document, multi-page Scanning, currency, barcode, explore and find. The parent company, Mediate, has also developed a SuperLidar app that helps partially sighted to locate people and objects around them.
Eye Care Tips For Workplace
We all work in different job environments, but one thing we all should follow is to prioritise our eye health while working. People working in manufacturing industries sometimes damage their eyes due to exposure to dust, chemicals or any other tiny objects. And for those working in the IT industry, the risk of eyestrain is always involved because of the unhealthy amount of time they spend on screen. Dry eyes, blurred vision and headaches are the most common symptoms of digital eye strain. Here are some tips that will help you to protect your vision at your workplace.
- Long-term computer usage may cause headaches and eye fatigue that lead to Computer Vision Syndrome. To avoid this, you should position your computer screen at eye level and at least an arm’s length away from your face.
- Put an anti-glare screen on the monitor of the device you are working on; it will protect your vision by reducing the intensity of glare falling on your eyes.
- Use the 20-20-20 technique, which suggests taking a break of 20 seconds every 20 minutes and looking at something 20 feet away to prevent eye strain.
- Protective eye gear is very critical for those working on the sites, yet many workers don’t wear them and risk eye damage. Eye shields should be comfortable to wear while working and adjusted in such a way that an individual can get proper eye coverage.
- Face shields, safety goggles and full face respirators should be worn in particular workplaces according to the hazard involved in the work.
- When you are working on a computer, maintain a good posture and always adjust the brightness level to the same as the location you are working on.
Final Thoughts
IT industries are introducing new advancements in the fitness app development industry to keep people updated about their health, and they are focusing on the eyecare app development niche. Digitalisation has made our day-to-day lives simple, although we can’t ignore the fact that it is the main reason behind the increasing rate of vision impairment. From children to adults everyone is addicted to mobile phones or other devices nowadays and it is neeed of an hour to adopt healthy eye habits. On this World Sight Day, take an oath to protect your vision and spread awareness regarding the side effects of excess screen time.
