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Show HN: Deaf? My iPhone app wakes you up if it hears an alarm

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Re: Show HN: Deaf? My iPhone app wakes you up if it hears an alarm

#91

Post by mietek »

primitivesuave wrote: post #23
ahoy wrote: post #6

This is fascinating. What do deaf people normally do in lieu of alarm clocks?

My girlfriend is partially deaf in one ear, so sometimes she will oversleep if she is lying on her good ear. A while back I built her an Arduino-powered alarm clock that uses a servo to repeatedly poke her with a foam finger (those big hands you wear at football games). It was a shoddy prototype, but the cool part was it synchronized with her iCal calendar. So, to answer your question, some [partially] deaf people us…

I love it. Fantastic. Please share some project documentation.

Re: Show HN: Deaf? My iPhone app wakes you up if it hears an alarm

#92

Post by tlrobinson »

brudgers wrote: post #81

In the US, visual alarms are pretty much standard under all the life safety codes for commercial buildings including apartments.[1] When they are not provided, both ADA and the Fair Housing Act [1] both dictate that owners provide them to accommodate the disability. If there's a problem, the fire marshal is a good person to call. They've typically pulled enough bodies from tragedies to last a lifetime, and this shape…

Can visual alarms wake a person up?

Re: Show HN: Deaf? My iPhone app wakes you up if it hears an alarm

#93

Post by tlrobinson »

alexvr wrote: post #16
thejosh wrote: post #12

Awesome app, can see this coming in handy... you need to promote this and also have an android client before a clone comes out. :) How is the battery consumption if it runs in the background? I'm guessing it isn't really a worry because if you are in bed you might have a charger, but the best use would be a in a pocket where it be awkward to use a charger, unless you place it under your pillow?

Thanks! It uses around a quarter of your battery overnight. Maybe less. The ideal place is somewhere close to you, like under your pillow or in your pocket, but pillows and covers may dampen the noise. Any suggestions on getting the word out? I'm psyched that it's on the front page of HN, and never would have thought it would be, but it would be great if anyone knows of places to reach more of the target market.

I'm not familiar with online deaf communities, but blogs and forums would probably be a good start.

Re: Show HN: Deaf? My iPhone app wakes you up if it hears an alarm

#94

Post by ryanhuff »

alexvr wrote: post #89
roberthahn wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who's deaf (not Deaf) thank you for making it. Sadly, the vibration the iPhone makes isn't strong enough for me but this is an awesome idea and I hope you succeed with it!

You're welcome, and thank you for the comment. I noticed this as well; I'm definitely searching a way to make the vibration more noticeable. Someone else suggested abandoning the mobile phone platform altogether to make a more robust product in general. If not me, maybe Nest will do something like this with their smoke detectors. They're already connected to wifi, so it would just take a wifi-enabled vibrator do the…

What about a specialized device that operates off of low energy bluetooth for communicating to the iphone? Something like this could be built with Arduino or Raspberry Pi.

John Muir, the American environmentalist of the 1800-1900's, built an "alarm clock" in 1862 that would dump the occupant off the bed at the defined time.

Re: Show HN: Deaf? My iPhone app wakes you up if it hears an alarm

#96

Post by chrisabrams »

tlrobinson wrote: post #92
brudgers wrote: post #81

In the US, visual alarms are pretty much standard under all the life safety codes for commercial buildings including apartments.[1] When they are not provided, both ADA and the Fair Housing Act [1] both dictate that owners provide them to accommodate the disability. If there's a problem, the fire marshal is a good person to call. They've typically pulled enough bodies from tragedies to last a lifetime, and this shape…

Can visual alarms wake a person up?

I was wondering the same thing.

Re: Show HN: Deaf? My iPhone app wakes you up if it hears an alarm

#97

Post by gojomo »

zevyoura wrote: post #67
dbloom wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS has a built-in accessibility setting to flash the camera LED for alerts and calls: http://www.cnet.com/how-to/ios-5-tip-how-to-enable-led-flash... (Anecdotally, I don't actually know any deaf people, so I don't know how effective this is as a way to wake people up...but some of my friends who have perfectly good hearing use this feature because they prefer it to having their phone make loud noises for calls and n…

I've seen this feature touted before, but I don't get it. For 99% of my use, my iPhone is either face-up or in my pocket, making this useless since the camera LED is hidden. If it's face-up, I can already see the alert, including the actual content of the notification.

I often have my phone on a nearby surface, table or chair. Even if face down, my case maintains a slight clearance letting enough of the light out to be noticed at a distance.

I believe person who initially showed me this feature kept her phone in a open-top handbag. Again, whatever the phone orientation, the reflected bright notification flickering would often be noticeable.

The notification flashes are somewhat negative distractions in dark places like a car at night, or theater, if the phone has been left on lap or seat. Also, it may sometimes give third parties the mistaken impression you're taking photos when you're not.

Re: Show HN: Deaf? My iPhone app wakes you up if it hears an alarm

#98

Post by rjd »

alexvr wrote: post #75

Hey everyone, I really appreciate all of the positive feedback. This is quite thrilling as a college student. It's the first thing I've made that people actually understand and consider useful. If any of you download Deafalarm, please let me know how it works for you and what you would like to see improved. I could also use pointers on getting the word out to people in this niche market. Thank you very much, Alex

No thank you, its great to see such lateral thinking and particularly around something thats the potential to be quite beneficial to people who have live hard enough as it is.

You put a smile on a jaded mans face with this app, and towards tech news thats a rarity for me these days :)

Re: Show HN: Deaf? My iPhone app wakes you up if it hears an alarm

#99

Post by brudgers »

tlrobinson wrote: post #92
brudgers wrote: post #81

In the US, visual alarms are pretty much standard under all the life safety codes for commercial buildings including apartments.[1] When they are not provided, both ADA and the Fair Housing Act [1] both dictate that owners provide them to accommodate the disability. If there's a problem, the fire marshal is a good person to call. They've typically pulled enough bodies from tragedies to last a lifetime, and this shape…

Can visual alarms wake a person up?

Appropriately placed, almost certainly. A 75 Candela strobe in a bedroom is pretty much impossible to sleep through.

Re: Show HN: Deaf? My iPhone app wakes you up if it hears an alarm

#100

Post by bpicolo »

alexvr wrote: post #89
roberthahn wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who's deaf (not Deaf) thank you for making it. Sadly, the vibration the iPhone makes isn't strong enough for me but this is an awesome idea and I hope you succeed with it!

You're welcome, and thank you for the comment. I noticed this as well; I'm definitely searching a way to make the vibration more noticeable. Someone else suggested abandoning the mobile phone platform altogether to make a more robust product in general. If not me, maybe Nest will do something like this with their smoke detectors. They're already connected to wifi, so it would just take a wifi-enabled vibrator do the…

wi-fi enabled vibrator sounds like an entirely different product. ; )
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