How gadget helps deaf people to hear with their skin

A gadget could help deaf people to “hear” sounds with their skin. The device called the Monitor works by converting sound into vibrations. It is aimed at individuals who are deaf and blind or severely hearing impaired and should help them to perceive and recognise sounds.

The Monitor was developed by an engineering researcher in Sweden, Parivash Ranjbar. As you might expect it alerts that a sound is happening, that someone is talking to them for example, but not the details.

“The purpose of the aid is to help people identify different sounds. They can also tell if somebody is talking to them but not what they say.” She told the Daily Express.
But it can be more accurate than you think: “However, one of my subjects was able to repeat exactly to me what I had said to my supervisor when I took a phone call. Monitor could make a real difference to people’s lives.

“Deaf blind people say they feel fear because they are always surprised by events and cannot plan for them. They cannot hear somebody approaching until they are close enough to smell the person’s perfume or to touch them and by that time it is too late to decide how to prepare.” Ranjbar said.

[via DNAIndia]
Anna Leach

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