Have you ever felt alienated from a conversation?
There are approximately 5,000 deaf people in Ireland with only a small percentage of their families using sign language in the home. As an empathetic designer, I communicated with members of the deaf community, who acknowledged that this language barrier causes feelings of disconnection, isolation and frustration for them in family life, and in wider society.
'Beppi' is a contemporary visual communication device. It uses smart technology to translate group discussions in real-time, using simplified text and LED adaptation. 'Beppi’s' LED lights continuously alternate colour during the conversation in accordance with each speaker's voice, thus allowing the user to instantly identify who is speaking, while observing the conversation cues on screen.
'Beppi’ increases the users involvement in conversations, starting in the home, and improves seamless social connectivity, alleviating the reliance on the traditional pen and paper.
'Beppi' helping with group discussions in the home
'Beppi's' contemporary design features one control button to power the device on and off
'Beppi's' charging station makes the device easy to transport around the home
Packaging design
Each prototype experiment was inspired, tested and improved while co-creating with members of the Deaf Community
Example of 'Beppi' adapting to and assisting Public Services
