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New Product Ideas / Listeners for doorbells, dryer chimes, oven buzzers.
« on: February 23, 2017, 08:54:42 AM »
I am developing an alerting device for hearing-disabled people. I have a mild hearing loss myself, and I cannot hear
The concept is a small battery-powered device to be mounted at a sound source and trained to detect its sound (doorbell, teakettle, etc.) When the sound is detected, an SMS will be sent to the user (e.g. "Doorbell", "Teakettle", etc.)
Using one device near the source for every sound limits noise and simplifies the User Interface. The user just clicks "Listen for" and plays the reference sound. The device then starts compares incoming sounds to the reference sound. If the two are sufficiently similar, it sends the SMS.
I did a software demo at Akron Makerspace on my 10 year old MBP. I can't find a way to fool it. Putting the mic right down the throat of the source means the inverse square law eliminates spurious signals, and the frequency detection just ices the cake!
Other alerting devices typically use one expensive processor per multi-source space instead of a cheap processor at every source. That's why they have to be wired in, or plugged in, or have a single-purpose notifier the user has to lug around, or are a chore to program and adjust -- because the device isn't right at the source.
Ron Phillips
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwphillips
- the front doorbell if I'm in the basement
- the teakettle whistling unless I'm in the kitchen
- the clothes dryer bell unless I'm within 2 meters of it
- the oven buzzer unless I'm within 6 meters of it.
The concept is a small battery-powered device to be mounted at a sound source and trained to detect its sound (doorbell, teakettle, etc.) When the sound is detected, an SMS will be sent to the user (e.g. "Doorbell", "Teakettle", etc.)
Using one device near the source for every sound limits noise and simplifies the User Interface. The user just clicks "Listen for" and plays the reference sound. The device then starts compares incoming sounds to the reference sound. If the two are sufficiently similar, it sends the SMS.
I did a software demo at Akron Makerspace on my 10 year old MBP. I can't find a way to fool it. Putting the mic right down the throat of the source means the inverse square law eliminates spurious signals, and the frequency detection just ices the cake!
Other alerting devices typically use one expensive processor per multi-source space instead of a cheap processor at every source. That's why they have to be wired in, or plugged in, or have a single-purpose notifier the user has to lug around, or are a chore to program and adjust -- because the device isn't right at the source.
Ron Phillips
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rwphillips