Deafness and hearing loss is a problem that many people have to deal with in their lives. According to research, about 15-26% of people are affected by hearing loss. For this design, we want to focus on individuals with profound deafness, with onset before language has been established. This group exists of about 0.07% of the population. This might not seem like a lot, but in the end, it comes down to a large group of people.

The purpose of this design is to make deaf people feel more comfortable and make them more aware in their own homes. Like most other people, deaf people also spend a considerable amount of time at home. We think home as a place where everyone should feel safe and pleasant.

HomeVoice is a device that detects the sounds in your house and points to their origin, making the user feel safe as they are more aware of their surroundings. To accomplish this, the device uses an array of sensors in order to determine the accurate position of the sound origin, while also distinguishing between different intensities. It makes use of an LED ring that encompasses the device 360 degrees, part of which lights up in order to guide the user towards the sound. By reacting to sound, and not specific signals, it is able to work with technologies that are already part of the household, unlike the already existing counterparts, which force you to replace preinstalled devices.