3D printing to help deaf and hearing impaired people

Honda was inspired by a deaf person he met at a cultural festival, who showed him around using gestures.

This device enables a deaf user to pick up on sounds such as alarms in a way they can register.

“I became very interested in deaf communication and I joined the research society. I studied sign language, volunteered as a sign language interpreter, and established a sign language circle at my university,’ he explains.

All of this inspired Honda to find a sound-based solution for everyday life for deaf people when he was looking for a graduate project in 2012. This eventually became the Ontenna. While looking like an ordinary hairpin, it is actually a mini-computer that conveys vibration through the user’s skin. Attached to your hair (though there is also an earring version), it is easy and comfortable to wear too. Sounds in the range from 30 dB to 90 dB are transformed into up to 256 different levels of vibration and light, enabling the wearer to associate certain patterns and noise levels with certain buzzing sensations.

This innovation was developed with the help of the MITOU Program, a bi-annual program aimed at promoting software engineering solutions and funded through the Governmental IT Promotional Agency. With this backing and 3D printing technology, Tatsuya Honda has already manufactured over 200 different prototypes that are being extensively testing.

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/2gcSSwW

More info: http://ontenna.jp/

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