Hey everyone,
My name is Howard and I am not deaf. I cannot fully understand what it means to be deaf and I won't pretend to. I do, however, give a great deal of respect to everyone here for creating such a strong community and such an empowering identity. What I will explain here is something very new and I will be truly grateful for everyone who takes the time to read through this.
I am attending a summer entrepreneurship program at MIT called LaunchX, the purpose of which is to help high schoolers develop a startup company. My team and I have all had people who are deaf in our lives and are very passionate about helping the deaf community gain awareness and better interact with the world around them. Our company, Hexsense, is dedicated to this mission. After 3 weeks of iteration, we have successfully created a working algorithm and are a day or two from finalizing our first product prototype: a wristband that converts sounds and speech into directional vibration with different frequencies. Essentially, it vibrates a certain way when it detects certain noises and also indicates which direction it is coming from. Here is a video that might better explain the technology at work:
After extensive competitive research, we realized that there are many wristbands in the market that cater to people who are deaf, but we differentiate in 3 ways. First, our algorithm allows the wristband to detect and differentiate hundreds of more sounds than even the closest competitor. Second, we incorporate AI and machine learning, which guarantees a high degree of accuracy and allows the wristband to improve on its own overtime, even in crowded and public environments. Lastly, we provide a product that is relatively cheap for the high level of technology involved. From detecting emergencies like alarms to helping parents get the attention of children who are deaf to hearing everyday noises like a dog bark, our wristband has a million possibilities that we can incorporate, many of which we probably haven't even thought of yet.
This is where you guys come in. Since it is still an early prototype, we have a lot of space for improvements and iteration, which means any feedback, criticism, or suggestions at all will be invaluable for our project. Additionally, if you are interested in this product and/or would give even the slightest consideration to purchasing/preordering/testing, please let us know! We would also really appreciate if you can spread the word as well; the more people we reach, the more feedback and interest we get, the better our device can help people.
Thanks again for taking the time to learn about our mission and product. We hope that with your help, we can really change the world for the better.
Regards,
Howard Li
My name is Howard and I am not deaf. I cannot fully understand what it means to be deaf and I won't pretend to. I do, however, give a great deal of respect to everyone here for creating such a strong community and such an empowering identity. What I will explain here is something very new and I will be truly grateful for everyone who takes the time to read through this.
I am attending a summer entrepreneurship program at MIT called LaunchX, the purpose of which is to help high schoolers develop a startup company. My team and I have all had people who are deaf in our lives and are very passionate about helping the deaf community gain awareness and better interact with the world around them. Our company, Hexsense, is dedicated to this mission. After 3 weeks of iteration, we have successfully created a working algorithm and are a day or two from finalizing our first product prototype: a wristband that converts sounds and speech into directional vibration with different frequencies. Essentially, it vibrates a certain way when it detects certain noises and also indicates which direction it is coming from. Here is a video that might better explain the technology at work:
This is where you guys come in. Since it is still an early prototype, we have a lot of space for improvements and iteration, which means any feedback, criticism, or suggestions at all will be invaluable for our project. Additionally, if you are interested in this product and/or would give even the slightest consideration to purchasing/preordering/testing, please let us know! We would also really appreciate if you can spread the word as well; the more people we reach, the more feedback and interest we get, the better our device can help people.
Thanks again for taking the time to learn about our mission and product. We hope that with your help, we can really change the world for the better.
Regards,
Howard Li
