Vibrating Wrist Band
The Need:
People who are deaf or hard of hearing typically lose hearing sensitivity in one or both ears, and this hearing loss can be anywhere from mild to severe. While there are many devices to help people of this population communicate easily, if a person who is hard of hearing does not use any amplifiers, they typically cannot hear someone speaking to them when they are facing away from them. Additionally, it can be difficult to see peoples’ hearing aids if they are concealed by head coverings or long hair. This can lead to frustration when a person who is hearing abled tries to communicate with a person who is hard of hearing. This can also be frustrating for the person who is hard of hearing, as they may miss attempted communications and may be perceived as rude for not answering the person trying to get their attention. Therefore, we believe that a convenient and sleek vibrating device that can indicate to a person with hearing loss that someone is trying to speak with them would be a great solution to this issue.
The Solution:
A product that is affordable, convenient, and useful. This product will be wearable and a stylish wristband that contains a microphone along with a sensor and can vibrate when a close human voice is sensed. With this device, people who are deaf or hard of hearing can be notified if someone is talking to them. There would be a frequency sensor inside the wristband that can detect the human voice, so frequencies between 200 Hertz and 10,000 Hertz. Along with the frequency bandpass filter, there would also be some sort of volume meter to detect how close the sound is to the person. This can eliminate conversations that are farther away from the person so that the person isn’t notified of irrelevant information. There will be a button that the user can press to indicate that they are now aware of the sound and are engaging in conversation.