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To investigate preferences for mobile and wearable sound awareness systems, we conducted an online survey with 201 DHH participants. The survey explores how demographic factors affect perceptions of sound awareness technologies, gauges interest in specific sounds and sound characteristics, solicits reactions to three design scenarios (smartphone, smartwatch, head-mounted display) and two output modalities (visual, haptic), and probes issues related to social context of use. While most participants were highly interested in being aware of sounds, this interest was modulated by communication preference--that is, for sign or oral communication or both. Almost all participants wanted both visual and haptic feedback and 75% preferred to have that feedback on separate devices (e.g., haptic on smartwatch, visual on head-mounted display). Other findings related to sound type, full captions vs. keywords, sound filtering, notification styles, and social context provide direct guidance for the design of future mobile and wearable sound awareness systems.
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This content will become publicly available on May 2, 2026
Inclusive Emergency Alerts: A Cloud- Based Haptic and Visual Notification System for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Broadcasting emergency notifications during disasters is crucial, particularly in Monroe County, NY, which is home to one of the largest per capita Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) populations in the United States. However, text alerts may not effectively reach DHH individuals who are in a state of reduced responsiveness, like sleep, placing them at great risk. This paper presents cloud-based platform designed to deliver emergency alerts with visual and haptic feedback. A prototype utilizing an off-the-shelf IoT device demonstrates how alerts can be received via vibration and light-based feedback. The platform aims to be accessible to DHH community, providing its own solutions to maintain haptic devices and receive critical alerts in real time. This work contributes to the literature on IT solutions for bridging the communication gap between text-based alerts and intuitive visual/haptic communication, enhancing emergency response readiness for the DHH community, ultimately improving safety and potentially saving lives.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2322255
- PAR ID:
- 10639368
- Publisher / Repository:
- Proceedings of the ISCRAM Conference (2024-Present).
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the International ISCRAM Conference
- ISSN:
- 2411-3387
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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