The Good Vibes App: The first, two-way communication app for the deafblind.

 

Entry Description:

For the first time in human history, the deafblind have a two-way communication tool. Available in the form a mobile app, Good Vibes is harnessing the power of the smartphone to empower the deafblind community across the world.

 

Brief: 
95% of all learning happens from seeing and hearing. As the deafblind can neither see nor hear, they live life in a void. While Braille helps them read and learn about the world around them, it is not a two-way communication language like talking, chatting or even sign language. How can we overcome these limitations by using technology?

 

Solution:

A mobile app made for the deafblind. Since the deafblind deciphered all things by touching & feeling them, we needed a technology or medium that had tactile feedback at the core of it. And it had to be easily available, affordable, and dependable. We found all those qualities in the ubiquitous smartphone. We simply found a way to convert English alphabets into tactile inputs (tap/long press) and back into tactile outputs (distinct vibrations).

After interacting with the deafblind and their caregivers, we knew we had our task cut out. We had to design a user experience that replicates ‘touch & feel’ - the only form of two-way communication used by them. With the Good Vibes app, we dug deep and explored a whole new dimension of app design: one that works for those can’t see nor hear. The result is ‘the invisible UI’ – probably the first of its kind. And it works like magic.

 

 

App launched on: 15th January 2018

Primary Medium: Mobile App, Google PlayStore

www.goodvibesapp.org