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Sound, especially music, has a direct cognitive response to our memories. This response links directly to our emotions and it is one of the reasons we can remember scenarios so vividly from many years ago. Studies have shown that adults who are deaf were found to have less dense representations of early autobiographical memories, fewer categories of information, including visual-spatial information, relative to hearing adults.
Memories and emotions are the hallmarks of a human life; how different do deaf people recall their lives without music as a stimuli? The question that we ask ourselves is how can we use spatial computing to help the deaf community experience what sound is without hearing? The perception of the musical vibrations by the deaf is every bit as real as the equivalent sounds, since they are processed in the same part of the brain. |
THE GLENNIE APP & WEARABLES
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PHASE 1 - DOING IT FOR NATIONAL PRIDE
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Each year, as the country prepares to celebrate the nation's birthday, one can feel the built up of hype in the air as we join our voices to sing iconic songs that instill in all of us a sense of camaraderie and national pride.
The sense of togetherness is termed as Collective Effervescence and studies have shown that the sources to create such a moment involves both focused (face to face) and unfocused (gestures and symbols) interaction by a large group of people often times in an environment that relies on sound. Examples of such environments can be found at music festivals, congregations, and national day celebrations. For the first phase of The Glennie App and Wearable project, we are building a use case for the deaf community to gain access to the Collective Effervescence from national festivities through haptic feedback, cymatic visuals and contextual information via their mobile devices. OBJECTIVE 1
TO InstilL a sense of national pride for everyone Through publicity of the project, society will witness the strength in national spirit and camaraderie across people of races, creeds, and now, hearing abilities. OBjective 2
To foster an inclusive society especially for the deaf. The features allow for closer inclusivity in the festivities where the deaf would ordinarily feel excluded because of the significant role that music and sound has in National Day celebrations. Objective 3
To provide and grow a digital community for the deaf The vast majority of deaf people in Singapore are not registered with the Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf), resulting in isolation from the rest of society. Working with the SADeaf as collaborators, we will connect the existing community of deaf people with more deaf users of the application. Objective 4
To provide a source of information and resources for the deaf There are many programs and tools that help the deaf improve their quality of life and integration with society. Apart from the National Day features, the application will also serve information and access to resources to help the deaf. |
People from all walks of life Celebrating the National Day Parade together. / Photo Credit: The Straits Times
Being in a crowd gives us some sense of where the action is. |
BUDGET & STRETCHED GOALS
The Glennie App and Wearables system is being developed in phases, each of which will implement and release new major features to enhance the lives and inclusiveness of the deaf community with the rest of society. The major feature release roadmap are as follows:
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Target 1 — SGD 50,000 Required
Target 2 — SGD 100,000 Required
Target 3 — SGD 150,000 Required
Target 4 — SGD 150,000 Required
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THE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Phase 1 of the system is implemented to convert audio to three modes of output. The first mode is haptic feedback, second is cymatic visualisation, and third is informative text. All three outputs are contextually driven based on situations, e.g., tension and noise level in large crowds can be represented by vibrations and visual intensity, lyrics from music are displayed as the informative text output. Multimodal output can be delivered simultaneously to the user, resulting in a multisensory experience that compensates for the loss of hearing. Haptic feedback is delivered via the device vibration motors and programmed to be intuitively representative of the nature of the sounds, i.e., to simulate a mosquito sound, the phone will vibrate gently but at a high frequency. In the past, we have implemented nature and physics-based cymatic visualization in the form of water cymatics, i.e., the simulation and visualization of water waves formed from the perturbation of the water medium by physical sound waves. This was achieved with a physical water cymatics setup that was deliberately art directed and tuned to create aesthetically pleasing and emotionally engaging sound-induced water movements for a wide range of audio signals. Spectral analysis of the sounds will be performed, specific bands of sound frequency and amplitude will be identified and mapped to different cymatic and haptic patterns. Encapsulating the system will be a downloadable mobile application that can be run on smartphones. The microphone of the mobile device will be used to receive sound from the environment. The mobile application will be designed fully-functioned for the benefit and enjoyment of deaf users. A push notification will alert the user when there’s a change of mood in the environment. The user also has the option of wearing an IoT device that will analyse the wearers mood and match it against the mood in his surroundings. Technical specifications for later phases will be revealed after we have achieved the required budget for Target 1. |
CASE STUDY - MAXIS DERIA TAKBIRThe Maxis' Deria Takbir app contains features to help hearing impaired Muslims experience the Takbir Raya. The Takbir occurs during Muslim fasting month and it is the most symbolic call to prayer that declares the joy of celebration.
The app analyses the Takbir sound to design both the cymatic visuals and the haptic feedback. This creates a coherent multisensory experience that would immerse the user in the Takbir. This app was launched in August 2019 and won the Gold Category of the Kancil Award in November 2019. Ministry XR was the company behind the development. |
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ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
MXR4Good is encouraged by its proven effectiveness and sees this technology as a tool that can reach out to a wider demographic of users. This is what Phase 1 of The Glennie will be working towards - building upon this proven framework to make a product accessible to all users regardless of race, language or religion, to bring together a nation in celebration.
MXR4Good is encouraged by its proven effectiveness and sees this technology as a tool that can reach out to a wider demographic of users. This is what Phase 1 of The Glennie will be working towards - building upon this proven framework to make a product accessible to all users regardless of race, language or religion, to bring together a nation in celebration.
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Top
Trending Lifestyle Apps
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Used in Over
Countries
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Outreach
Million Users
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MAXIS DERIA TAKBIR TESTIMONIALS
All I know is every Raya morning everyone would go to the mosque and when it’s done, I’d go back home. With this app, I can feel its vibration and get excited to join in the Takbir. - Muhammed Aqil Abdul Ghani This is an encouraging effort by Maxis to make the celebration more inclusive for us. Celebrations are more meaningful when no one gets left behind. - Iskandar Mogamad Sazali |
For me and other deaf people, we are very much visually oriented because we cannot hear. When we go to the mosque during Ray and there’s Takbir, we would like to know what it’s about too. Thanks to the app’s technology, I can immerse myself in the Takbir like others do which is good for the deaf community. - Mohamad Sazali Shaari, President of the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf This creates a coherent multisensory experience that would immerse the user in the Takbir. We can use technology to enable not only our access to the world, but also the impact it has on the everyday life. - Tai Kam Leong, Head of Brand and Partnerships MAXIS |
CASE STUDY - MOTIONSAVVY UNI
With the help of a tablet and Leap Motion technology, MotionSavvy, a 4- student startup from Rochester Institute of Technology, developed a device to help the deaf listen and speak. The UNI was launched in 2015 on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo and manged to raise SGD 60,806 on their first attempt. They were subsequently incubated under Wells Fargo and made a splash in the news as the first ever handsign-to-voice system.
A research paper written in 2018 by by the Department of Information Technology at SRM Institute of Science and Technology further supports the advances that spatial computing have on Gestures-based tech.
A research paper written in 2018 by by the Department of Information Technology at SRM Institute of Science and Technology further supports the advances that spatial computing have on Gestures-based tech.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
MotionSavvy has closed its operation in 2019 and attempts to purchase the UNI from open market proved to be quite a challenge. Gesture-based computing has improved vastly over the years from the time UNI was first developed in 2015. Ministry For Good is inspired by the UNI and has the technical expertise and business acumen to take this great invention to the next level. This will be done in Phase 2 and 3 of The Glennie roadmap.
MotionSavvy has closed its operation in 2019 and attempts to purchase the UNI from open market proved to be quite a challenge. Gesture-based computing has improved vastly over the years from the time UNI was first developed in 2015. Ministry For Good is inspired by the UNI and has the technical expertise and business acumen to take this great invention to the next level. This will be done in Phase 2 and 3 of The Glennie roadmap.
MOTIONSAVVY UNI TESTIMONIALS
It will give deaf people the ability to live the lifestyle they want. It will mean the difference between a six-digit job and a minimum wage job. - Ryan Hait-Campbell This is awesome. I would have loved to have this years ago to better build a communication with my nephew. - R.S. Hagen |
Imagine instead of this being on a tablet its on a wearable device like google glass. Great job! - Asha Khan My godson is visually impaired, all three of his paternal aunts are deaf, this app is exactly something that would break down the communication barrier! Awesome!! - RJ D |
CASE STUDY - CUTECIRCUIT SOUND SHIRTThe SoundShirt is a haptic wearable device that allows deaf audience members to experience a symphony orchestra. The SoundShirt brings music to life in a way that can be felt physically, live, in-realtime, on the body in a tactile language.
With 16 micro-actuators embedded in the fabric of the garment, these actuators receive wirelessly and in real-time the music, transformed in data, that is captured on stage while the orchestra is playing. In this way the violins can be felt on the arms and the drums on the back creating a fully immersive feeling for a deaf audience member. |
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ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
The SoundShirt is an idea that we wanted to expand beyond just the use in a specialised environment. We liked the idea of haptic feedback using vibrations to communicate, but we also liked the idea that this device can be used everywhere in any situation. The other consideration is the pricing. Our agenda is to develop a range of products that is super affordable and able to scale in complexity. This is Phase 3 and 4 of The Glennie roadmap.
The SoundShirt is an idea that we wanted to expand beyond just the use in a specialised environment. We liked the idea of haptic feedback using vibrations to communicate, but we also liked the idea that this device can be used everywhere in any situation. The other consideration is the pricing. Our agenda is to develop a range of products that is super affordable and able to scale in complexity. This is Phase 3 and 4 of The Glennie roadmap.
What you hear... I can feel! - Kassandra Wedel, Dancer & Actress |
Amazing, even I am not deaf, I would like to experience the sound shirt. - Renee Pfister |
HOW TO SUPPORT THIS PROJECT
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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
All good ideas require funding to turn concept into an actual working product. If you or your company is involved in CSR initiatives, we would like you to consider taking our Ministry For Good projects on for your next sponsorship.
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STUDENT VOLUNTEERS
If you are a student or a fresh graduate with an interest to support a cause, you can volunteer with us by contributing your time to research work and/or spreading our core message online.
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TECH DEVELOPERS & BUILDERS
If you are an innovator with a useful skill that can take us closer to our objectives, or maybe you have a similar product that can complement what we are trying to do, we'd like to invite you to work with us.
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