New smartphone app developed for deaf people

New app developed to empower deaf people to 'hear'

Matthew SparkesTelegraph Media Group Limited

A new smartphone app has been developed to empower deaf people to “hear” through light when a phone is ringing, and then to have a conversation via a sign language interpreter.

The Convo Lights app works with Philips Hue, the Wi-Fi enabled light bulbs which can be made to change colour or turn off and on via a smartphone app. Hue is largely designed for aesthetics but Convo has given it new abilities by flashing the lights or displaying certain colours when an incoming phone call is detected.

This means that deaf people can catch phone calls that they would otherwise have missed.

Since the launch of Philips Hue last year third-party developers worldwide have created nearly 200 complimentary apps.

The new app from Convo, a deaf-owned and operated company providing video phone and translation services to the deaf community, allows users to create personalised ringtones of light to identify incoming callers, and adjust the brightness in a room to make sign language easier to see onscreen.