Modular Tactile Sound Flooring System for Hearing-Impaired Users
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tactile sound floors for hearing-impaired individuals are difficult to construct and require specialized assembly, limiting their accessibility to different locations, especially for outreach programs.
Innovation Solution
A modular tactile sound flooring system composed of interconnected modules with adjustable support feet and interlocking frames, allowing for easy assembly and portability, enabling hearing-impaired individuals to feel and hear music through bone conduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If tactile sound floors are constructed as specialized systems, then hearing-impaired individuals can experience music through bone conduction, but the systems become difficult to construct and transport to different locations
Solution Approach 1:
The tactile sound floor system is divided into multiple modular units, each containing a platform, tactile transducer, and frame structure. These modular units can be independently manufactured, assembled, and transported, then connected to form a complete tactile sound floor system at the destination location.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates adjustable support legs with threadable components that allow the modular units to be leveled and adjusted to different heights. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the system to adapt to various floor surfaces and transportation configurations while maintaining proper alignment and functionality.
2Reliability
If tactile transducers are integrated into a fixed dance floor, then hearing-impaired individuals can feel and hear music, but the system requires specialized assembly and cannot be easily relocated
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated tactile transducer system is segmented into modular units where each module contains a platform, frame, and tactile transducer assembly. This segmentation allows the system to maintain reliable tactile sound transmission within each module while enabling easy assembly, disassembly, and relocation of individual modules.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular units are designed with universal connection features including interlocking frames and standardized mounting interfaces. This universality allows the same modular components to serve multiple functions: providing stable structural support, enabling easy assembly and disassembly, ensuring proper alignment for reliable tactile transmission, and facilitating transportation to different locations.
3Ease of operation
If modular modules are interconnected to form a contiguous floor, then the system becomes portable and easy to assemble, but additional connection components and assembly steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The frame structures of adjacent modular units are designed to interlock directly with each other, merging the structural functions of multiple components into a single integrated connection. This eliminates the need for separate connection hardware while providing stable mechanical coupling between modules for tactile vibration transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular units incorporate self-aligning features and self-leveling mechanisms that automatically adjust during assembly. The interlocking frames and adjustable support legs with level indicators enable the system to self-correct alignment issues without requiring precision tools or specialized assembly expertise, reducing the complexity of the assembly process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The modular system facilitates the assembly of a contiguous dance floor that can be leveled and easily transported, providing a tactile sound experience for hearing-impaired individuals in various settings, enhancing their ability to engage with music through both touch and bone conduction.
Implementation Method 1
sound is also perceived via vibrations conducted to the inner ear through the bones of the skull. That is, bone conduction transmission occurs as sound waves vibrate bones of the skull
Implementation Method 2
the transducer or 'shaker' transmits vibrations into various surfaces so that they can be felt by people touching the surface
Data Source
AI summary
Presented herein, is a modular tactile flooring system. The tactile flooring system is made from individual modules that each support a tactile transducer. The individual modules may be assembled to form a tactile dance floor. More specifically, the modules may interlock to form a single dance floor surface. Further, the modules may be individually leveled to provide a level surface even when an underlying support surface is uneven. that facilitates assembly of a tactile sound floor and readily permits the tactile sound floor to be assembled in a desired location.