Safe and sound
A bike helmet that allows deaf cyclists to feel road sounds and improve their safety has won a national James Dyson Award. The Moses headgear turns sound into vibration to help users judge the traffic around them. It also includes a specially designed fastener so it can be removed without pulling out the wearer’s hearing aids from behind their ears.
The helmet was created by Yue Feng Chen from Shih Chien University in Taiwan and has also won a 2022 Golden Pin design award. He said: “There are many safety challenges for deaf cyclists. This design uses the ‘sound to motion’ sensory substitution to translate road information into dynamic language, making riding safer and more comfortable.”
Other winners in this year’s James Dyson Awards included a pH sensor to monitor wound healing, running shoes for people with cerebral palsy and a rotary safety hook to protect construction workers.
