The CURE

How a vibrating vest helps deaf people hear

A lightweight wearable vest covered in sensors helps deaf people ‘hear’ by converting words into vibrations.

For the 360 million people with hearing loss, interaction with the world can be severely affected.

There are options that help communication, of course, from sign language and lip reading to hearing aids and cochlear implants.

But what if there was a way to allow people to feel the sounds around them through their skin, letting them hear through their sense of touch?

The Cure travels to Texas to meet Dr David Eagleman, a neuroscientist working on a wearable vest that does just that.

The Vibrotactile Extra-Sensory Transducer (VEST) turns audible sound received from a smartphone into tiny vibrations on the skin that the brain then interprets as sound.

We meet 23-year-old volunteer Greg Oxley as he tries the VEST for the first time and see how this new technology could transform his life.

Join Dr Joff Lacey in Texas to explore the science behind a vibrating vest that helps deaf people to hear.