Beyond Hearing: an AR 'sound radar' that shows Deaf users where sounds are

When Chun-Te Ho's sister lost hearing in 2021, she gained a specific, rarely discussed problem: she could hear that sounds existed but no longer tell where they came from. Ho learned the same challenge was widespread — 448 million people worldwide live with hearing difficulties, and in interviews with the international Deaf community, more than 80% said sound localisation limited their daily activities, from street safety to group conversation.

Ho's answer, developed as a solo project at Imperial College London and the RCA, was not a better hearing aid but a different translation of sound. Beyond Hearing is an augmented-reality interface: sensors detect sounds around the wearer and a transparent display overlays simple icons and animations on the real world, showing what is making the noise and where it sits — a car behind you, a person speaking to your left, a doorbell at the front of the room.

The visual language was borrowed from video games, which routinely render hidden sounds as on-screen cues, and the design iterated with Deaf users through functional prototypes: first distinguishing left from right, then detecting sound across 360 degrees, with haptic feedback so even without looking the wearer can sense direction. Ergonomics were treated as part of the concept — the device had to be comfortable enough to wear like an accessory, not a medical obligation.

The concept earned a D&AD 2023 Side Hustle Pencil, a Core77 Design Awards 2023 Student Runner-Up in Emerging Technologies and a Red Dot concept shortlist, with patents pending in Taiwan and the US. More than the hardware, the idea changed the framing: a hearing device could make deafness feel less like a deficit and more like a differently equipped way of reading the world.