Manchester Met University Research - Help needed!

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ProductDESIGNER

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Hi,

I'm working as part of group for MMU university. We're studying Product Design engineering and have chosen to design a wearable device for those who are hard of hearing or deaf.

We would really appreciate your help on what areas /functions to target...

What is most difficult around the home?
What is most difficult outside the home?
Is there technology out there that you think could be improved?
Is there a product that you think is brilliant? If so why?

We have to use certain technology (Arduino) so was thinking of a product such as a bangle that contained sensors to detect sounds or that is connected to another item like a baby monitor. When these sounds are detected it would vibrate or light up. We are even toying with the idea of voice recognition. if the user was to hold the watch near a person it would detect speech and show the words on the watch / bangle screen.

Would these functions be of use? Is it something you would buy (if we got it right).

We're still in very early stages of research so any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Once the product has been designed I will return to the forum to show you and get your opinion on whether you think it could be useful.

Thank you!

Helen and team.
 
This is by no means a complete reply, but I really like one feature of my fitbit- I can connect it to my phone via bluetooth and it will vibrate and display a contact name or phone number if someone calls me. I don't actually answer the phone, but I'm able to tell when someone calls me so that I can call them back through my relay service. A simple improvement would be to do the same for messages, vibrating and showing a small icon and then the name of whoever sent it. I usually keep my phone on vibrate, but if it's in my purse or bag instead of close at hand, I don't know if anyone is calling.

What you've suggested: something similar for potentially important sounds would be neat. Sirens, fire alarms, that kind of thing. I've seen a couple wearables with a similar idea, but they've all looked quite large and clunky. What I like about the fitbit charge I have is that its relatively small and cheap, as well as being multipurpose and discrete.

I can only speak for myself, but I like to try out new tech. I'd appreciate a heads up whenever you guys finalize your design.
 
A smartwatch is getting there but it is purely annoying....if I am too far away from my phone the notifications disconnect bluetooth tech is a downfall for me
 
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