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PROJECT OVERVIEW.

Industrial design | 1 week | 2021 | Tools: Rhino, Solidworks, Keyshot, Figma

Able is a set of earphones designed to allow users hear music easily while running. It also includes a vibration and visuals based pod designed for people with hearing disabilities to experience music.

/ earphones and music for people with hearing disabilities

Able

THE PROBLEM.

People prefer earbuds since they offer more portability but struggle keeping the earbuds on especially when used while jogging, exercising, or any other rigorous activity.

The U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration states that the standard size of the ear canal is approximately 2.5 cm in length and 0.7 cm in diameter. This standard sizing is what most earbuds try to follow. However, it was found that each person’s ears are actually more unique than fingerprints. This makes this one-size-fits-all approach to not really cater to a lot of people most of the time.

enabling music everywhere. enabling music for everyone.

Able

MY ROLE.

This was an individual project Intro to Solidworks project. The project brief was to design a set of earphones. My role included research, designing, CAD, rendering. 

FORM EXPLORATION.

INTERVIEW INSIGHTS.

Pain points around using earphones.

“I like to listen to music while working out but my earphones keep falling out.”

“My ears are differently shaped so the earphones never stay”

“Earphones are convenient but when I go running I prefer wearing my headphones because I’m scared they will fall off”

Earphones

Able earphones have small lights on the back to show the battery levels of the earphones. They are light weight and designed to allow users listen to music while working out, without the fear of the earphones falling out.

Adjustable Handle

Able earphones can be adjusted to fit on your ears, made of silicone rubber, designed to  accommodate differently shaped ears since one size does not fit all. This helps  preventing the  earphones from falling while running.

Music Pod

"Feel the music"
 

The music pod uses visuals and vibrations to represent sounds. As each sound has a different frequency of vibration, it can be represented in a unique way visually, enabling people with hearing disabilities to experience music.

FINAL DESIGN.

Able earphones are designed to accommodate differently shaped ears to enable music while running or exercising. 

It comes with charging case.
 

AREA OF OPPORTUNITY.

What about music for outliers? How might we enable music for people with hearing disabilities?

How might we prevent earphones from falling when there's a lot of movement?

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