App to turn music into vibrations and visualizations for hearing impaired

The first app, BW Dance, creates visualizations and vibrations for the deaf or hard-of-hearing to help them feel the music. According to the iTunes store description, the app turns music into visual equalizer, vibration signals, and flashing lights. The user can select any song on their device and then dance to the flash, vibration and flashing ring generated by the app. The app lets the user create a full playlist of their choosing.

Vitaliy Potapchuk, a co-founder of the app, says “I am a deaf developer and my immediate circles are also deaf – including my wife. I built the BW Dance app to bring the ‘feeling’ of the rhythm through vibrations and flashing lights into our silent world. Our deaf community has a lot of limitations and with this app one of those limitations can be defeated.”

The second app, also co-developed by Potapchuk, has a more practical purpose. BeWarned has a sound monitor to alert deaf and hard-of-hearing users to potential dangers around them. The app alerts the user with flashing lights or vibrations if sounds like alarms, screaming, or car horns are detected.

“Deaf and hard-of-hearing people use an entirely different, visual language – and deaf culture is filled with its own traditions, art and social norms, something most hearing people know little about,” notes the non-profit organization Communication Service for the Deaf, highlighting the importance of developing new applications and products for this group of people.