Students from Indonesia’s Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) have created a device that will improve on the safety of drivers with hearing impairment.
According to a recent press release, Avion or Audio to Vibration will be giving the hearing impaired a safer and more secured driving experience.
Safer roads and driving experience
The device can be likened to a hearing aid for driving as it transforms the horn sound of another vehicle into vibrations that will alert the driver who has hearing impairment.
The tool is in the form of a smart watch worn by the driver who has hearing impairment. When drivers, from other vehicles, honk their horns, the watch will vibrate to let the wearer know about it.
Inspiration for this technology came from an experience with a family member who was given a driving ticket after failing to hear the honk of the horn from another vehicle.
Additionally, the group wanted to create something that will improve Indonesia, particularly the City of Bandung, addressing some of its problems.
Emerging as winners
This device won first place in the Bandung Datathon 2019 competition, which was hosted by the Bandung City Government in collaboration with the City of Melbourne.
The competition was rigorous, which started with proposal selection in mid-March 2019 until it culminated in the Final Pitching, which the team had won on 17 May 2019.
The team’s Avion had addressed the competition’s theme of “Road Safety for Pedestrians, Cyclists, Bikers, and Drivers.”
During the whole competition, the team had the opportunity to experience Intensive Pitching and Mentoring, which lasted for 6 weeks.
This experience taught them the basics such as the process of building a start-up and the knowledge aspect of canvassing the business.
The grand prize will award the team with an opportunity to study in Melbourne, Australia for a week so that they can improve on their device more before actually being used in the real world.
After perfecting it, the group will be collaborating with the Bandung City Government and the Directorate of Traffic of the Indonesian National Police for further implementation of the device.
Utilising IoT and mobile apps
In other news, another team of students from the University had won in an international competition with their EzBand bracelet.
This device addresses the issue of eczema, which produces a characteristic rash on the skin, particularly on children. This skincare issue is normally triggered by allergies, dry skin, and changes in temperature.
Treating this problem is important since it can have psychological and psychosocial effects on the child.
EzBand has a corresponding smartphone application. Worn by children, the EzBand will send out reminders to the wearer so that they can remember to apply their skincare regimen.
Likewise, the parents who have the smartphone application installed will receive the reminders as well.
The team responsible for this technology is from the University’s School of Electrical and Informatics Engineering.
They utilised on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology and mobile applications to develop the device.
The team bested representatives from 65 different countries who competed in Paris, France. The competition was organised by a cosmetics company.
As champions, the team will be given 3 months internship at the company, wherein they can further develop their innovation prototypes into real products used in the real world.
