01 / ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY · 2026

DFAssist.

Turning everyday sounds into visual and vibration alerts.

MY ROLE: Founder & owner · Ali Majid Mohammed
STAGE: Prototype
FOCUS: Offline sound awareness

THE CHALLENGE

Important sounds.
A different way to notice them.

A baby crying, a dog barking, or a fire alarm can call for attention. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people may miss those cues when they are delivered only through sound.

DFAssist—Deaf Feeling Assistant—explores a dedicated wearable that identifies selected nearby sounds and makes them visible and tactile.

HOW IT WORKS

Listen. Recognize. Alert.

Capture

The microphone picks up nearby sound.

Recognize

An embedded AI model identifies a supported sound on the device.

Notify

The screen names the sound, and vibration draws attention to the alert.

THE SOLUTION

Sound awareness
you can feel.

DFAssist is a dedicated wearable designed to recognize selected nearby sounds and alert its wearer through vibration and a clear message on screen.

It works offline and independently, without a phone or internet connection. Sound recognition stays on the device.

Examples include a baby crying, a dog barking, and a fire alarm. The aim is to make everyday sound cues easier to notice and identify.

EXAMPLE ALERTS

See what the wearer sees.

Illustrative watch visuals showing listening mode and three sound alerts. These generated images show the intended experience; they are not photographs of the physical prototype. Numbers on the watch screens are illustrative placeholders, not recognition accuracy, detection confidence, or measured performance.

Concept watch visual showing DFAssist ready and listening — Ready and listening

Concept watch visual showing a baby cry alert — Baby crying

Concept watch visual showing a dog barking alert — Dog barking

Concept watch visual showing a fire alarm alert — Fire alarm

FOUNDER & OWNERSHIP

Created by
Ali Majid Mohammed.

I founded and own DFAssist and developed its wearable prototype to explore a more accessible way to notice important sounds.

PRESENTATIONS & PROGRAMS

Sharing the idea.

2026

Falling Walls Lab Jeddah

Presented DFAssist virtually, sharing the prototype and its approach to independent sound awareness.

Presented

2026

IT Park Global / Kazan Digital Week

Presented DFAssist at the Kazan program in Tatarstan, Russia.