Case
Sound design for safety and security
With a carephone, elderly or disabled people and their relatives can feel safe in the knowledge that they can always contact others easily and be contacted. Connected, updated and secure technology also allows users to remain living in their own homes for as long as possible. Neat Electronics chose to work in partnership with Semcon to develop their NOVO carephone.
CustomerNeat
IndustryLife Science
CompetencesDesign & User ExperienceProduct Development
Background
NOVO, a connected, updated and secure carephone, was launched in 2016. The concept behind the product involves allowing end users to access all the functions they need in their homes so that they can remain living there for as long as possible.
Semcon and NEAT Electronics worked together on:
Visual design of the carephone
Acoustic design support
Sound design for device functions
Mechanical design
Certain aspects of testing/verification
Acoustic design
As NOVO has to work at all times in the home, it is important for it to be able to communicate with the user no matter where it is positioned in the home. In other words, the sound quality from the loudspeaker is very important. Semcon supported the evaluation of various loudspeaker drivers, back and front volumes and driver placements in order to ensure that acoustically, the device is as good as possible.
Sound design
Work on the sound design began by finding the timbre that would be unique to NEAT Electronics. This timbre was then used to create most of the notifications and signals for the feedback that would become part of NOVO.
NOVO has 18 different functions for which Semcon has devised sounds. Every function has a number of variations, so as a result a wide range of sounds were needed for the carephone. Examples include sounds to confirm different activities and sounds that indicate errors.
For end users with care phones in their homes the precall signals were one of the most important aspects. These signals are the sounds indicating that a call to the service centre or alert centre is in progress. The aim was to identify a signal that conveyed a sense of calm and care in the clearest way possible.
About Neat Electronics
Neat Electronics is part of the Neat Group, a multinational company specialising in technical platforms for healthcare and social services. Neat has developed a wide range of products in the fields of telemedicine, telecare and products for the elderly. With the company’s solutions, elderly or disabled people and their relatives can feel safe in the knowledge that they can always contact people easily and be contacted.
