Alert Notification Device for Hearing Impaired Users
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing alert notification systems for the hearing impaired often rely on radio channels, which may not be available, preventing users from receiving notifications of sound events in their vicinity.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising sound input devices, a controller, and portable output devices that capture and compare ambient sounds in real-time with a database, generating multimedia alerts via WIFI or radio interfaces, allowing notifications through visual, tactile, and auditory means without requiring continuous internet connectivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If radio channels are used for notification, then real-time alert delivery is achieved, but system reliability deteriorates when radio channels are unavailable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a local server as an intermediary component that receives sound event data from sound capturing devices and stores it locally. This mediator enables the system to function without continuous radio channel connectivity, as the local server can hold and manage notification data until communication is restored, thereby resolving the contradiction between real-time delivery speed and reliability in unavailable network conditions.
2Measurement precision
If continuous internet connectivity is required, then notification accuracy is improved, but system adaptability deteriorates in environments without internet access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having the local server pre-store sound event data and notification information before internet connectivity is needed. The system prepares and caches relevant data locally, so when internet access is unavailable, the controller can still retrieve pre-stored information from the local server to generate accurate notifications, thus maintaining both detection accuracy and environmental adaptability.
3Loss of time
If radio communication is used between devices, then real-time communication is achieved, but loss of information occurs when radio channels are unavailable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies beforehand cushioning by having the local server store multiple sound event data records and maintain a buffer of notification information in advance. When radio communication fails, this pre-stored information acts as a cushion that prevents information loss, allowing the controller to continue retrieving and processing sound event data from the local server without interruption, thereby preventing both time loss and information loss simultaneously.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
An alert notification device comprises a plurality of devices working together as a whole configured to capture sound events in a restricted surrounding environment being monitored by a user with hearing disability, wherein the alert notification device (11) comprises a portable output device (12) configured to execute an alert notification application that analyses at least one match indicator signal received by output device (12) itself, a source signal captured by a resource or a third-party application executed in output device (12), and, based on an alert notification profile selected by the user using the alert notification application itself and produces, by means of portable output device's (12) own resources, an alert notification signal that is sensorially and visually adapted for the user.