Inclusive Emergency Alerts: A Cloud- Based Haptic and Visual Notification System for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Abstract

Broadcasting emergency notifications during disasters is crucial, particularly in Monroe County, NY, which is home to one of the largest per capita Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) populations in the United States. However, text alerts may not effectively reach DHH individuals who are in a state of reduced responsiveness, like sleep, placing them at great risk. This paper presents cloud-based platform designed to deliver emergency alerts with visual and haptic feedback. A prototype utilizing an off-the-shelf IoT device demonstrates how alerts can be received via vibration and light-based feedback. The platform aims to be accessible to DHH community, providing its own solutions to maintain haptic devices and receive critical alerts in real time. This work contributes to the literature on IT solutions for bridging the communication gap between text-based alerts and intuitive visual/haptic communication, enhancing emergency response readiness for the DHH community, ultimately improving safety and potentially saving lives.