Digital technology truly has changed the game. Creativity and innovation now knows no limits, especially with high speed access to information and a massive collection of data readily available through the internet.
These technological advancements are what made projects like the Wavio’s “See Sound” possible, and through a campaign with AREA 23, An FCB Health Network Company, people now know of the device’s ingenious approach to helping the lives of those hard of hearing.
“See Sound” literally lets people see sound, that is, they receive a notification when a small square device detects certain sounds or noises like high pitched beeps of a fire alarm or even a child crying.
An incredibly powerful and inspiring Grand Prix announcement for the Innovation Grand Prix from @wavio_ai! Congratulations to Area 23 (FCBHEalth) and Wavio for winning for the #SeeSound product! #CannesLions https://t.co/N6XnQbU2sD
— LIONS | The Home of Creativity (@Cannes_Lions) June 20, 2019
For this particular awarding ceremony, the stage was given to Brandon Marin, co-founder of Wavio, who introduced their own initiative as the Grand Prix winner for Innovation. With a translator by his side, he delivered this short but powerful speech:
“This Grand Prix Award on Innovation is truly an emotional one. This signifies that two teams have just broken a monumental barrier for 466 million deaf people in the world. Not once in history has a deaf-owned startup ever been able to win not just a Cannes Lion but a Grand Prix Award. We hope this moment will inspire future generations of deaf people to believe that they can too come stand on this international stage one day.”
The campaign made together with AREA 23 fully demonstrates the capabilities of the device and how useful it is in real life. Starting off with testimonies of how being deaf could pose a difficulty during emergency situations, the video then proceeds to show how the device could help save lives as well as how a large database of sounds through YouTube made building the device a reality.
Winning gold for the category, on the other hand, was McCann New York and Microsoft’s “Changing The Game”, which addressed accessibility issues for differently abled children by creating an adaptive controller for their game console that could easily be used by anyone.
Click here to view and download the full list of winners.
Main Image from Cannes Lions 2019 via Twitter.
