Over 466 million people worldwide are deaf or hard-of-hearing and are thus unable to use a voice-activated assistant as effectively as a hearing person.

 

Current assitive technology in Deaf homes utilitize lights, captions, and tactile solutions in place of sounds. For example, fire alarms in Deaf homes will have lights that go off whenever it detects smoke. Other devices will also flash lights if someone is at the door or if there is an incoming call.

 

How could accessibility options found in homes today be incorporated into Google’s smart home ecosystem and make it more inclusive as a result?