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AI for blind and visually impaired people: apps, phone features, glasses and their limits

Today AI describes photos, reads text aloud and answers questions about the surroundings for blind and visually impaired people. Free options in German include the apps Be My Eyes with Be My AI and Microsoft Seeing AI, plus image descriptions in VoiceOver on the iPhone and TalkBack on Android; Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses with a camera cost from 419 euros according to Ray-Ban (as of October 2026). The descriptions can be wrong, so you should not rely on them alone for medication, money or traffic, and photos of letters or faces usually end up on the providers' servers.

Published 11 October 2026

AI for blind and visually impaired people: apps, phone features, glasses and their limits — AI illustration

Tools for blind and visually impaired people

Checked on 11 October 2026

Be My Eyes with Be My AI^1,17AvailableFree (according to the App Store)
Have photos described and ask follow-up questions, call sighted volunteers or company help lines by video; app in German, user account required.
Microsoft Seeing AI^3,17AvailableFree (according to the App Store)
Recognise and read aloud text, documents, barcodes, banknotes, colours and handwriting, have photos from WhatsApp described; interface in German.
iPhone: VoiceOver Live Recognition and Magnifier^4,5,6,20AvailableIncluded in iOS
Have surroundings and text described live; doors and people only on Pro models with a LiDAR Scanner (iPhone 12 Pro or newer); detailed image descriptions and questions about images need Apple Intelligence under iOS 27 on an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.
Android: TalkBack image descriptions^7,8Limited
Have images on screen described with generative AI; according to Google, Ask Gemini and Describe screen are so far only available in English.
Ray-Ban Meta with Meta AI^{2,9,10,11,12,18}AvailableCamera models from €419 (according to Ray-Ban)
Take a photo of your surroundings by voice command and have it described; call volunteers hands-free via Be My Eyes, currently in English according to Meta.
Envision (app and Envision Glasses)^13,14,15LimitedApp free (according to the App Store)
Read texts and documents aloud, describe scenes; according to the vendor, development ends on 31 December 2026 unless a partner is found.

What AI can do for blind and visually impaired people today

The German Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted (DBSV) describes the opportunity like this: AI can quickly produce descriptions of objects, people and situations and output them as text or speech. According to the DBSV, this helps in many areas of life, from getting around to work and running a household.

In everyday life there are three kinds of tools. First, apps built for blind and visually impaired people, such as Be My Eyes, Seeing AI and Envision. Second, features already built into the phone: VoiceOver on the iPhone and TalkBack on Android. Third, glasses with a camera that describe what is in front of you on a voice command.

General chatbots such as ChatGPT can also provide detailed image descriptions, according to the DBSV magazine Sichtweisen. How to set them up in general is explained in our article on AI for seniors. This page covers the tools designed specifically for seeing.

Apps: Be My Eyes and Seeing AI

According to the App Store, Be My Eyes is free and available in German. The app combines three things: video calls with sighted volunteers, the built-in AI Be My AI, which describes photos and answers follow-up questions, and a directory of companies and organisations that help by video. According to Sichtweisen, the DBSV can be reached there too, for example. You need a user account to use it.

According to the App Store, Microsoft Seeing AI is also free and is available in German, among other languages. The app reads text aloud as soon as you point the camera at it, scans documents, identifies products by barcode, names banknotes and colours and reads handwriting. Photos someone sends you via WhatsApp can be described directly via Share, without saving them.

The Sichtweisen editorial team tested both apps and praises them as easy to use. It also notes that neither works without errors: a carpet became a towel and a long-haired man was described as a woman. How good the result is depends heavily on lighting and image quality.

Already on your phone: VoiceOver on the iPhone and TalkBack on Android

On the iPhone, with VoiceOver switched on, a triple tap with four fingers starts Live Recognition. According to Apple, the iPhone then describes what the camera sees: scenes, text, people, doors or furniture. According to Apple, it only detects people, doors and furniture on Pro models with a LiDAR Scanner, that is, from the iPhone 12 Pro onwards. More detailed image descriptions and questions about images require Apple Intelligence, which according to Apple runs on the iPhone 15 Pro and newer models under iOS 27. According to Apple's overview, image descriptions are also available in German. The same recognition is built into the Magnifier app.

On Android phones, according to Google, the TalkBack screen reader can describe images with generative AI: focus on the image, open the TalkBack menu and choose Describe image. On the Pixel 9 and newer models this also works automatically. According to Google, however, the new Ask Gemini and Describe screen features in TalkBack 16 are so far only available in English.

Our assessment: before installing an extra app, it is worth looking at your phone's accessibility settings. A lot is already built in free of charge.

AI glasses: Ray-Ban Meta and Envision

According to Meta, its AI glasses are also sold and supported in Germany. With Hey Meta, look and..., the glasses take a photo, send it to Meta's cloud for analysis and speak the answer through small speakers. According to Ray-Ban, models with a camera cost from 419 euros. Frames that take prescription lenses cost from 469 euros; according to the product page, that is the price of the frame only, and your own prescription lenses come on top. According to Ray-Ban, the cheaper Ray-Ban Meta Audio is available to pre-order from 379 euros. It has no camera and therefore cannot describe anything. Be My Eyes can be linked to the glasses so you can call volunteers hands-free. According to Meta's help pages, however, this feature is currently available in English. Since March 2026, according to Be My Eyes, you can also call your own groups of family and friends through the glasses, at no cost to you.

German broadcaster SWR showed what this looks like in everyday life with a blind lecturer from Stuttgart. He paid a little over 400 euros and values being able to keep his white cane in his hand. At the tram stop, however, the glasses named the wrong stop instead of the line, and the answer can take up to five seconds. The tram left without him.

Envision sells its own glasses, which according to the vendor are classified as a medical device and can therefore be paid for by German health insurers. On 5 October 2026, however, the founders announced that if no partner is found by the end of the year, development will stop on 31 December 2026. After that, the app's online features are to wind down; a final version of the app with as many offline features as possible is to remain free. The announcement does not say what will happen to the glasses. Anyone considering Envision glasses now should be aware of this.

Errors and privacy: what to watch out for

The DBSV warns that wrong outputs and made-up answers can have serious consequences when AI is used as an assistive aid. Apple states explicitly that you should not rely on the recognition in risky situations, for navigation or for health matters. Our assessment: always double-check dosages on medicine packs, amounts of money and anything in traffic, such as traffic lights or tram lines, for example with a second app, a person or your long cane.

On privacy, it pays to look closely. According to Google, it processes images for TalkBack descriptions and deletes them afterwards. With the Meta glasses, photos go to Meta's cloud and remain viewable in the Meta AI app. In the App Store, Be My Eyes states that sensitive data and content may also be linked to your identity. That is why the lecturer in the SWR report never photographs letters containing bank details.

The DBSV calls for such data to be processed on the device itself wherever possible and warns against covert filming with smart glasses. Seeing AI can save faces of friends so it can recognise them later. Ask those people beforehand whether they agree.

Sources

Created with AI assistance and editorially approved before publication.