The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2019
Samsung's watch app turned referee whistles into vibrations for deaf players
An app for the Galaxy Sport watch detects the referee's whistle and vibrates, letting hearing-impaired players join team sport; it won Epica Silver in 2019.
Samsung
the move
Hundreds of thousands of young Australians with hearing impairment were excluded from regular team sport for one simple reason: they could not hear the referee's whistle.
Leo Burnett Australia and Samsung built an app for the Galaxy Sport watch whose microphone listens for the exact frequency of a referee's whistle. When it detects the blast, the watch vibrates instantly, giving the player the same cue as everyone else — no stadium changes, no extra equipment.
The fix reused hardware already on the market, turning a missed sound into a felt signal. Epica gave Samsung and Leo Burnett a Silver award in 2019, and Australian industry rankings named the work a creative contender for 2020.
why it works
- It reused the watch's existing microphone and vibrator, so the fix cost almost nothing to deploy.
- Filtering for the whistle's exact frequency avoided false alerts from crowd noise.
- The athlete received the cue in a sense they have, which is how inclusion works at product level.
what transfers
An inclusion problem is often a signal-routing problem: convert the cue into a sense the user does have, using hardware they already wear, and access changes without building special facilities.
what came after
The app became a reference for accessibility built into consumer hardware and won an Epica Silver in 2019, with the work showcased among Australia's top creative output of 2020.
references
- The Work 2020 Contenders: Leo Burnett Australia — Samsung Silent Whistle
- Leo Burnett picks up Gold and Silver at the Epica Awards 2019
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