The life of a person with impaired vision can't be an easy one because this person would always have to depend on the help of others in many areas of their lives. Not being able to see also means that you would have to rely on people to tell you whether the bottle of jam that you are about to open is OK to eat or is crawling with worms. Disgusting thought, but this is what a visually-impaired person would have to contend with.

With that in mind, when we heard that there is a fantastic iPhone 3G application called Digit-Eyes for the visually-impaired community, we can't help but say 'Good on ya' to the people who came up with the idea. The idea is the brainchild of the president of Digital Miracles LLC.

Basically, what the iPhone application does is come lets these people use their iPhones to scan braille-like QR Codes on stuff in the pantry which tells them in audio or text whether the foodstuff in their hands is still edible. It tells the visually-impaired person what the product is and whether it is safe for consumption.

Being blind or visually impaired, one would ask how would they find the labels or the QR codes. The brilliance in the idea is that the QR Code sticker (we think the label is of the stick-on type) is like braille which makes it easy for the blind to find it by touch.

The iPhone application also reads conventional UPC code but because UPC codes is not as versatile as QR Codes, you can't read the date on them.

The QR Codes if placed on things in the refrigerator will tell the blind whether the left-over item can still be consumed. It seems that the company sees the potential in developing even more things for the iPhone that will help the disabled with QR Codes for a sprinkler system, oven and many other stuff to help those in need to lead a more normal life.

I think something like this is truly revolutionary because it is making complete use of technology to help the needy lead a more fulfilling, if not more normal, lives. In its true sense, this is what many more companies and maybe even individuals should be doing and paying special attention to.