See hear: New vision for hearing-impaired

Copenhagen – A new pair of glasses allows the hard of hearing to ‘see’ what people around them are saying.

BabelFisk by industrial designer Mads Hindhede gives people a ‘super sense’. The concept glasses work by converting the sound into text, which then appears on the inside of the glasses. Speech is filtered using algorithms created for regular hearing aids.

The product has two microphones built in. This helps the wearer to identify where the sound is coming from. ‘The product could also be great to use for dictation at meetings,’ Hindhede tells LS:N Global. ‘Files can be saved in audio and text format for easy retrieval after a meeting, and downloadable via a USB stick.’

We have previously written about clever solutions for people who are less able. One example is a camera for visually impaired people.