SoniWear: A Wearable Device For The Hearing-Impaired

This paper presents the design and implementation of SoniWear, a wearable device engineered to enhance the environmental awareness and safety of individuals with hearing impairments. The device detects critical environmental sounds in real-time and provides alerts through vibration and visual cues. SoniWear integrates an ESP32 microcontroller with a microphone to capture ambient audio, which is then transmitted via Wi-Fi to a cloud-based server hosting a trained deep learning model for sound classification. The model identifies sound categories such as car horns, sirens, glass breaking, door knocks, and phone rings. Upon classification, the device provides real-time feedback through a vibration motor and displays the identified sound label on a Thin Film Transistor (TFT) screen. Extensive testing confirms SoniWear's ability to accurately classify sounds and provide timely alerts, offering a practical and accessible solution to bridge the auditory gap for the hearing-impaired community.