Thomas Seiwert
Thomas Seiwert
HearRingGem
Being deaf is hard. Many of those inflicted with deafness struggle within their own home to recognize important sounds that help to navigate life.The HearRing Gem is a product for the deaf. This device alerts those with hearing loss of important sounds around their home by flashing an LED light, displaying icons and/or vibrating.
The HearRing Gem fits perfectly into the palm of your hand, in your pockets, under your pillow or can even be mounted to your wall. The user can change the position of the gem as well. The HearRing Gem contains a hidden hinge allowing the user to adjust the LED screen into an upright position when displayed on a flat surface.The HearRing Gem also connects to the HearRing app, where you can customize alerts and manage your devices. Users can customize the alerts by color, icon or manage whether they want the HearRing Gem to glow and/or vibrate. One HearRing Gem can pick up all of the sounds that happen in a single room. The user can also connect different rooms’ Sound Gems to each other and be alerted of sounds happening in multiple rooms at once.
This is a form exploration of different shapes that would best display an alert to it a deaf user. I started out with more organic forms, specifically the shape of a hyperbolic paraboloid. From there I moved on to a puck shaped object that would fit into the user's hand. This is where the idea for a clamshell design came from as it would let the user both hold the object and display the object based on the user's preference.
The HearRing Gem flashes its LED light and vibrates based on the user's preference. The user can switch between flash colors and alert icons as well. The user can keep the HearRing Gem in their pockets, under their pillow, or display it on a flat surface.
Each HearRing Gem is packaged with its own charger.
