Waveband
location
umeå university
master thesis
21 weeks
collaborator
dukis
year
spring 2019
This thesis project set out to empower people born deaf or hearing impaired in their everyday lives. An important aspect was to avoid a common fallacy - a solution designed from an audist’s perspective. Thus, the whole process was continually inspired by and validated with the target group: three people representing the spectrum of hearing impairment, a tinnitus group, and the youth center DUKiS for the hearing impaired in Stockholm. This resulted in a wearable that enables users to seamlessly get eachother’s attention through haptics - and if desired - take part in the everyday soundscape.
introduction | hearing through haptics
A short animation showing the two main aspects of the Waveband, and how they fit into the world of hearing impairment.
background | framing the issue
project inspiration
“When I put my hand on the speaker, I can still feel the beat. I love it!”
online comment, recently lost hearing
numbers on hearing loss
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466 million people in the world have hearing loss, of which 34 million are children.
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1.1 billion young people (12-35 years) are at risk for hearing loss due to recreational exposure to loud sounds.
in sweden
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More than 1.4 million people have some sort of hearing impairment (including tinnitus, Meniéres illness etc.)
-
500 000 people have a hearing aid, although the amount should be around 800 000.
hearing impairment since birth
The device is surgically placed inside and behind the ear on children often between the ages of 6 months to 4 years old.
cochlear implants
Cochlear implants can help people with severe hearing loss understand up to 85% of conversations.
resistance from
the deaf community
Most babies are forced to adapt to a hearing family
You do not need hearing to be happy or successful
Cochlear implants have difficult learning curves
Deafness is often viewed wrongly as an abnormality
The implants are surgically invasive, thus risky
It's a loss of a member for the deaf community
Mild hearing loss
One can have difficulties hearing conversations in crowded areas.
Moderate hearing loss
Need hearing aid to converse without effort.
Severe hearing loss
Often relies on lip-reading and sign language.
Profound hearing loss
Need sign language, lip-reading or cochlear implants to converse.
levels of h.i.
first interviews | building a relation
As my knowledge of hearing impairment and deafness was close to zero, these girls generously told me about their whole journey, from birth until now, and how their condition has affected them and their families. We also talked about societal issues and relevant devices.
honest inside look
HRF (National agency for the hearing impaired)
Carola Hedmark runs a nonprofit Tinnitus Group in Umeå for HRF because she knows the need to discuss, share and learn with people in the same situation.
I met with her before a meeting to discuss my findings, pitch my ideas and get relevant feedback.
sensory substitution
Input from touch
Brain's processing capacity
Input from eyes
Input from ears
substitution
They are all the same to the brain, although after a while it figures out what they’re good for - input from the eyes is translated into seeing, and so on. In the case of losing one sense like hearing, the brain uses the same receptors to interpret input from other senses, like seeing, effectively leaving more capacity for the remaining senses.
electric impulses
If sounds are translated into, let’s say vibrations, in a predictable pattern during a longer period of time, the brain will process these vibrations as hearing.
workshop | insights and opportunities
Dukis
Stockholm’s only recreation center for young people between 11-17 years of age with hearing impairment. It’s meant to be a meeting environment for sign language users, which is to inspire the youngsters with different and independent leaders.
1 questionnaire
2 excercises
11 participants
workshop
These kids are happy, social, curious and like sign language. They do not need "saving".
main take-away
ethical approach
2 opportunity areas
+
empowerment
=
final direction
pick over
processing info
18 painpoints
+
10 insights
=
8 opportunity areas
8 opportunity areas
+
evaluation
=
2 opportunity areas
the brief
To design a device for getting attention for people born with severe hearing loss/deafness, which empowers their existing lifestyles. This gives me the chance to explore human senses and habits, and hopefully add value to society by improving life for minorities.
