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Welcome back all you Tech Connectors! Your favorite AT Specialist: Cory from Vision Forward, is here today with more tips you can use to get the most out of your Assistive Technology!

Be My Eyes officially launched just over a decade ago as a simple way to connect those with Low Vision or Blindness to volunteers eager to offer a little assistance throughout their day. The system is predicated on video call technology which has grown ubiquitous thanks to modern smart phones. Today that service has grown to include millions of volunteers and countless thankful users.

While we are using the Meta Glasses for this demo, know that you don't need a pair of smart glasses like the Meta to enjoy Be My Eyes. In fact today we are discussing something that everyone can use. Groups! Groups are essentially a list of specific trusted volunteers that you can reach out to whenever you need help with something a little more sensitive or specific. The regular volunteers at Be My Eyes are typically very kind, but certain times you may prefer to get help from someone you are more familiar with. Creating and using these Groups within Be My Eyes is the focus of today's video!

0:00 Start
0:25 Introduction
1:15 Initial Demo
3:00 Luke Returns!
3:33 Purpose of Groups = Trusted and Known friends rather than strangers
4:20 Method to create Groups and Invite Friends
6:00 Wrap Up Review of this Be My Eyes feature
6:45 LMS Courses for Free ACVREP Credits!
8:05 Goof

We have covered the Meta Glasses in previous videos. If you're new to Meta, check out those videos for summary of what they can do for you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w3r7yCBGeM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aftNVwt83NQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WchQ6kb8V0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Lugpgj5JM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQTIsLVCB8w

If you have any questions please post them in the comments below!

Want more Tech Connect in your life? You should try us Live! Next show goes live on Thursday the 21st of May! So be sure to check your email for reminders as we approach those dates!

Looking for the full playlist?
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdZ61dAGaL_k3I-_LcTPozan9upCqY8Yc

Catch-up with our most recent Tech Connect Livestreams!

Humanware in 2026 featuring Braille Note Evolve w/ Rachel Ramos!
https://www.youtube.com/live/iBZQF9lEQY4

Assistive Technology With Carrie Morales from Carrie on Accessibility!
https://www.youtube.com/live/hnrsQxZlicU


Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses! https://www.youtube.com/live/aftNVwt83NQ

#Meta #SmartGlasses #MetaRayBans #BeMyEyes #Phone
#lowvision #lowvision #maculardegeneration #lowvision #visuallyimpaired #glaucoma #legallyblind

Call us: 414-615-0103
Email us: techconnect@vision-forward.org
Visit us online: https://www.vision-forward.org
Online Store: https://www.vision-forward.org/store
Transcript
00:00Sure, I'll just set up everything. Well, Luke and Jonathan just sit at the
00:04Renaissance Fair. You know, let's just have the guy who's blind. Let's set up
00:08all the camera. Do all the work. That totally makes sense. Yeah, that looks
00:13pretty good. Let's do that.
00:26Hey all, welcome back to another Tech Connect. As you can tell from the opening, I'm riding
00:32solo today. For some reason, Jonathan and Luke decided they were going to hang out at
00:36the Renaissance Fair today. They were supposed to be back in time for this video. They're
00:40not. They're probably jousting, eating huge turkey legs, drinking from big goblets. I'm
00:47not really sure what they're doing at the Renaissance Fair. I don't even know if this camera shot is
00:52straight. And I'm not really sure what to do to make it straight. But I think what we can
00:59potentially do is we can use the metaglasses with the Be My Eyes groups. And I wonder if
01:06we could call Jonathan and Luke and maybe they can at least help me get this camera straight
01:11so I can at least have a good shot here. So, hey Meta, call only the best on Be My
01:19Eyes.
01:21Calling the best on Be My Eyes. Here's only the best from Be My Eyes.
01:32All right, we're going to see if they connect. Hopefully they're going to take some time.
01:39Oh, hey, Corey, what's going on? Well, it sounds like from what I can hear in the background,
01:45you guys are still at the Renaissance Fair. Yeah, yeah, we're still at the. Oh, no. Sorry.
01:51We must have lost track of time. Yeah. Sorry, Corey. I think all the clocks here are off. They say
01:56they
01:56haven't invented daylight savings time yet. Oh, you don't have a sundial on your wrist? A smart sundial?
02:01It's cloudy. Oh, nice. All right. Well, at least give me a hand here. I have no idea if the
02:07camera
02:08is straight. I'm at least trying to get the intro done to this video. So I'm wondering, can you see
02:12through the metaglasses? How's that camera looking? Yeah. Yeah. No, Corey, you're going to want to adjust
02:19that. It looks like it's tilting quite a bit to the left. All right. Let's walk around here. Let's
02:26see if we can find this camera again. Probably going to knock it over when I'm trying to find it.
02:31There it is. All right. So I can turn this. There's going to be a dial on the other side.
02:36If you loosen that, you can level it out and then tighten it back up. That should. And all right.
02:41What do you think? That look better? That's much better, Corey. Looks good to me. All right.
02:46Let's do it back as soon as possible after eating our turkey legs. All right. That actually
02:55worked pretty well. I think we are hopefully lined up. You'll have to put it down in the comments
03:00and let me know. But you may be aware of Be My Eyes groups. They've been around since 2023.
03:06There you go. Hey. Wow. I'm back from the run fair. Huzzah. And I came with gifts. Some wonderful
03:16things for you, including this lovely and very stylish, might I say, hat. So there we go.
03:21We'll just pop that on there. Excellent. So what are we talking about in today's video?
03:25Well, we're actually talking about the Be My Eyes groups. We just obviously used it. You guys
03:30helped me. And I think the camera shot turned out well. Telling people that the groups feature
03:35has been around since 2023. You probably knew that already. Obviously. You are a genius. Obviously.
03:40It was a cool feature that allowed you to set up your own groups of family and friends.
03:44There are those tasks that you potentially want help from a trusted person in part of your family.
03:51I'm glad that you feel that way about me, Corey. You are very trusted.
03:55You know, volunteers. Great. But there are those tasks where you want your family and friends
03:59to help you. And that's what the groups are. And we can now access those Be My Eyes groups
04:05with the metaglasses. And you were able to see through my metaglasses.
04:10Indeed, I could. And help you get that camera nice and level exactly as we wanted.
04:15Yeah, it was cool. It was nice to have hands-free for me. And you're getting a good point of
04:19view shot of what I'm looking at.
04:21For those that aren't familiar, it's pretty easy to access and create those groups right from the main Be My
04:28Eyes app screen.
04:30If you do the get support tab down in the bottom left, you're going to see an option for groups
04:36right on that main screen.
04:38From there, once you've gone in there on the top right, there's a manage groups and you can add your
04:43group.
04:44So you're going to give it a short name. That's the name you're going to use to distinguish the different
04:49groups you have.
04:50But it's also the name you're going to use when asking Meta to make that phone call.
04:55Once you've created that group, then you're going to see a link that says share group link or share invite
05:01link.
05:01And you can then share that with your family and friends.
05:06Obviously, I shared it with you. So you already had the Be My Eyes app installed.
05:11I did. I was signed up as a volunteer. I think there's over 15 million volunteers, believe it or not.
05:17And you? 15 million?
05:1815 million, yeah. So I signed up as a volunteer. I got an invite to the group.
05:22Jonathan and I both got an invite and we joined the group.
05:24And I'm very glad we did. So we were able to help you on this journey that you are taking.
05:30Yeah. And let's hope that the Be My Eyes groups within Meta Glasses help you if you are ever stranded
05:36by your co-workers
05:38who expect you, a blind person, to set up the camera and do everything.
05:42Maybe Meta and Be My Eyes groups will be able to help you.
05:45I mean, Corey, you did such a good job this time that I feel like we can do this more
05:49regularly.
05:49So maybe you won't be seeing me in the video so much anymore.
05:57Well, Corey, short but sweet to video, especially short for me because I only turned up halfway through.
06:02But it seems like the Meta groups are a really cool way for people to get a hold of their
06:08trusted people
06:09to help them out with visual tasks.
06:10Yeah. If you've been using the Be My Eyes groups or you're now using them within Meta,
06:15I put it down in the comments. I'm curious what are some of the groups you've created?
06:19You got any funny names for the groups? So throw those down in the comments.
06:24I never asked you, Corey, what's the name of our group?
06:26I mean, I guess I should know, but I can't remember.
06:28They are Only The Best.
06:29Only The Best.
06:30And you heard it as I called for those watching the video.
06:33You heard me call Only The Best.
06:35As it should be. As it should be.
06:37Talking of Only The Best, Corey, we do have some great content on our learning management system.
06:41People can go there to techconnect.vision-forward.org and they can check out all of our great videos
06:50which are training you on various things.
06:52And you can earn on-demand ACVREP credits as well.
06:57Our latest videos are a series on a screen video starting from basic principles and working up to advanced stuff.
07:05So go check that out.
07:06We also have a live show every other Thursday right on this YouTube channel, 11 a.m. Central.
07:12We've done past videos on the Echo Vision glasses, the new i7 from iDaptic.
07:19And if I'm not mistaken, we'll be having Rachel Ramos if she's not already been on, depending on when this
07:25is released.
07:25But Rachel Ramos from Humanware will be joining us on a live show too.
07:29So come to this YouTube channel on a Thursday because it depends when you see this.
07:35Check every Thursday at 11 a.m. Central and we'll either be live and if we're not, watch an old
07:39one.
07:40There you go.
07:41And with that, Corey, the good news is I brought back a number of turkey legs from the Ren Faire
07:46just waiting to be eaten.
07:47So why don't we go and get involved?
07:50All right, I'm down.
07:51I'm hungry.
07:52It's turkey time.
07:53It's turkey time.
07:54See you later.
08:03I thought that was a good video, Corey.
08:04Yeah, it turned out.
08:05Nice job.
08:05Yeah, yeah.
08:06I did tell a bit of a lie at the end, though, to be honest.
08:09Don't tell me it's the turkey leg.
08:10I'm sorry, but I couldn't actually find any turkey legs at the Ren Faire, but I did find a good
08:14substitute.
08:15Have you heard of the oldie Jimmy John's?
08:18Ooh, Turkey Tom, baby!
08:19Turkey Tom's coming your way.
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