Everyday dangers of being deaf

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Ben Hone

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Hi Everyone,

I'm a Product Design student working on my final year project. My focus has been on dangers faced by the deaf community on a daily basis. So far I've focused on fire safety and have explored the possibility of a smoke detector that connects to a piece of wearable technology that alerts you to a fire around the house.

I would appreciate some insights into any activity or environment that becomes more dangerous as a result of a loss in hearing. Additionally, is fire safety a big issue in the home or is this not an avenue worth exploring?

Thanks a lot for your time!

Ben
 
I'd love an app that tells you when you dropped something and which way it went! When my husband drops stuff on the floor it goes bang and he looks straight to where it went. I find out later that I lost things and they could be anywhere. There's already a lot of stuff on the market for fire safety, nobody does this. Is this a danger? Well yes if you drop medicine and you have pets or children. There's all sorts of dangerous things you can drop on the floor and not know you did it.
 
Having an app on the smartphone would be nice. Many people I know have apps with security companies. If someone breaks into the house, your app on phone alerts you.

Carbon monoxide alarm app is a must. It's colorless, odorless and tasteless. It is not only for deaf people in danger, It's a huge problem among the society.
 
if you were sleeping would you be able know your smartphone is warning you of a break in ? Would the phone vibrate too?
 
The unit I mentioned above doesn't have a smoke alarm feature but I think there are others that do.
 
There are some apps out there that allow for flash notifications. The one I don't know if it would hook into any smoke or carbon monoxide detectors or if it could...only if there was a normal app that emits a sound maybe.

:hmm:

I am using an app right now to alert me to 3 chat apps (SMS text, FB messenger and LINE) and my email. Works really well since 3 of the 4 didn't have options for flash alerts. But boy the light flash (camera flash really) is BRIGHT. Tried the alarm clock one but there was no way to delete established alarms.... so still looking.
 
DeafNerdMommy said:
Insensitive hearing people
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Oh, yeah. As provoked as I become at the occasional insensitive hearie, my wife bristles at them like a cat ready to attack.

As for home alert devices, our local fire department installed flashing lights on our upstairs and downstairs smoke alarms at no cost to us. To let me know when visitors are at the door, we purchased front and back doorbells that flash in several locations. Our local police and ambulance dispatch center now accepts 9-1-1 texts. I'm pretty much low-tech and haven't had a smart phone very long, so I'm learning some of its wonders for future use. :fingersx:
 
What disappoints me the most is how much more costly alerting devices that are visual are than ones that are just sound. I can see some additional additional cost but what I have found seems out of line.
 
Jane B. said:
What disappoints me the most is how much more costly alerting devices that are visual are than ones that are just sound. I can see some additional additional cost but what I have found seems out of line.
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Yes, I think it's unfair that it is much more expensive for us to purchase devices and I think many aren't able to buy most. Some have a hard time finding a job or getting better jobs or on a limited SSDI/SSI income, so what's the point of the big price? You need someone else to fund it for you. It's ridiculous. I don't have most of the devices hearing people have the advantage of that would help me hear because of price. It makes no sense to overprice such devices just because it's a special device. People who have a disability aren't all rich.

This might be a better topic to discuss for paper for OP as there's already many devices for deaf people. It's just costly.

As per Chase, some fire departments are able to do and provide devices for free but not all fire department have this. It depends on where you live.
 
The Texas law requires apartment owners and managers provide visual smoke detectors if deaf tenant requests it. The law is very much young.

Yeah, not all fire departments provide free smoke detectors. They can't give them free smoke detectors without grants.

I saw a YouTube video on FB a while ago. Deaf guy is a father and doesn't need Sonic Baby transmitter since his kid or kids got older. He came up with idea and decided to use Sonic Baby transmitter for anything. For example, if you set a timer on the microwave, it sets off and baby transmitter responds and the light goes off and on. It saves money.
 
There's an app called Braci that you can train to listen for different sounds and it will alert you to them. There is a free version which does very little and thinks all sounds are the same (my microwave, my kitchen timer, my vacuum cleaner) but I have been told by a few deaf and blind people that they swear by the full version. Yet again, cost - the full version is something crazy like US$85. There are other apps that come up as being similar, but most have terrible ratings.
 
I have asked my city fire department if they gave out smoke alarm for deaf and hoh people and they said "No" . During Fire Safety week the city gave out booklets on what
you should have for smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarms in your home. I didn't see anything for deaf and hoh people in the booklet , there was a small paragraph on the back of the booklet for deaf and hoh people as it was an after thought to include people that can't hear an alarm. It said we should use a visual smoke alarm . There are elderly hoh or deaf people that live alone and they'll most likely not know their smoke alarm going off or that the battery is dying and chirping . I called COA to suggest they work with the fire department in making sure that elderly people living along have working smoke alarms.
 
HappinessCounts said:
Yes, I think it's unfair that it is much more expensive for us to purchase devices and I think many aren't able to buy most. Some have a hard time finding a job or getting better jobs or on a limited SSDI/SSI income, so what's the point of the big price? You need someone else to fund it for you. It's ridiculous. I don't have most of the devices hearing people have the advantage of that would help me hear because of price. It makes no sense to overprice such devices just because it's a special device. People who have a disability aren't all rich.

This might be a better topic to discuss for paper for OP as there's already many devices for deaf people. It's just costly.

As per Chase, some fire departments are able to do and provide devices for free but not all fire department have this. It depends on where you live.
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The high costs could be "taking advantage of ..." but it also could just be because of supply and demand. Less demand for a product, the higher the cost.
 
RoseRodent said:
There's an app called Braci that you can train to listen for different sounds and it will alert you to them. There is a free version which does very little and thinks all sounds are the same (my microwave, my kitchen timer, my vacuum cleaner) but I have been told by a few deaf and blind people that they swear by the full version. Yet again, cost - the full version is something crazy like US$85. There are other apps that come up as being similar, but most have terrible ratings.
Click to expand...

Hmm I just looked that up...

there is a Braci - free version... and a Braci PRO version. The PRO seems to be free to download but it also says "in-app purchases 9.23 per item (assume that's US). huh...the developer address is listed as being in the UK. Last update was last year.

Somebody in the comments section noted Otosense may be better but that was from 2015. and only 27 reviews (android/googleplay).
 
Braci Pro comes up as a one off purchase for $85 in the UK Play store and Otosense says "This content is not available in your country yet".
 
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