Design of a Sound-to-Vibration Alerting Device for Enhancing Situational Awareness in Deaf Individuals

Deaf individuals often struggle with a lack of awareness of their surroundings and face challenges in communicating due to their inability to perceive surrounding sounds. This study presents a novel design and implementation of an electronic circuit that senses and amplifies surrounding sounds, converting them into specific vibrations to alert deaf individuals through their skin about the presence of nearby sounds. The circuit comprises an audio sensor (microphone), an audio amplifier, a sound frequency converter to low vibration frequencies, and a specialized circuit to drive a vibrator that synchronizes with the sound's presence. The vibration intensity corresponds to the sound intensity, providing the deaf individual with a sense of the sound's shape and intensity in the environment. This design simplifies the circuit to reduce costs while maintaining efficiency, making it suitable for portable use. Additionally, the study proposes a method to enhance performance by sending wireless signals with specific modulation, which can be converted at the receiver into distinct vibration patterns, enabling the deaf individual to recognize different types of alerts or the identity of the caller.