Hilton has partnered to make hotel stays more accessible for blind and low vision guests. The free app matches users with sighted volunteers and companies who can help them navigate spaces and complete tasks via video calls.
By going to the app's services directory, selecting the “hotels” option and then the name of the Hilton brand where they are staying, Be My Eyes users will be connected to dedicated teams at the chain. Hilton staff members can talk to users about actions such as finding and adjusting the room thermostat, making coffee, adjusting window shades, and moving to different areas of the hotel. The partnership covers brands such as Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, DoubleTree by Hilton and Hampton by Hilton, although for now only in the United States and Canada.
Hilton and Be My Eyes first met last year to help train the latter's Be My ai language model, which uses GPT-4. The goal was to improve the model's ability to recognize objects in the Hilton hotel rooms and how to traverse the spaces. Be My Eyes also uses ai to capture text from items like menus and toiletry bottles to help users understand what is written on them.
