Deaf and hard of hearing mobile users never need to worry about ever missing a crucial sound again.
FHSR’s Education Coordinator, Anna Tess, sat down with Taptic creators, Drushya and Micah, to learn more about the app and its extraordinary features, as well as their interest in serving the D/deaf and hard of hearing community. Anna reflected on many of her own experiences as an individual with hearing loss as well as a teacher of the deaf and school principal and recognized the need for this app for any individual with hearing loss. This app is a powerful tool for the hearing loss community and can provide a tool for text to speech, captioning and safety all in one app.  

The Taptic app listens for the sounds you choose and notifies you with an alert, vibrations, and flash. Taptic d/Deaf Support is a mobile alert system that listens to the environment through your phone. Taptic can detect a wide range of sounds, including doorbells, alarms, sirens, phone rings, and other important notifications. The app allows users to customize which sounds they want to be alerted to through its settings. In addition, the app’s innovative talk-to-text feature facilitates conversations between spoken and written language users – one can speak and the other can type, all without having to flip a phone around.

App creators Drushya Musham (Taptic’s CEO, Chief Executive Officer) and Micah Roberson (Taptic’s CTO, Chief Technology Officer) began developing Taptic through an incubator at the University of Indiana called Sparklabs. They are now continuing their work as co-founders and best friends in the 1871 incubator in Chicago. Both Drushya and Micah have impressive corporate resumes already, but have chosen to pursue social enterprise, driven by a commitment to inclusivity and accessibility.

Drushya’s journey began with a 10-week summer internship in Antigua, Guatemala with Niños de Guatemala, a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving children access to free education. This transformative experience inspired her commitment to serving underprivileged communities and shaped her future endeavors. During her time as a Residential Assistant (RA) in college, Drushya became acutely aware of the challenges faced by students with disabilities. She became even more driven to create inclusive solutions.

Micah’s journey with Taptic is also deeply personal and driven by a commitment to social impact. Growing up, he was profoundly influenced by his parents’ dedication to helping others, instilling in him a passion for making a difference. This passion became a mission when a tragic incident, where a Deaf friend missed a crucial alert, inspired him to create Taptic.

Why did you create this app? 

• Drushya has always had a passion for helping people. She started taking sign language classes in high school and loved learning about the Deaf community. In college, she minored in American Sign Language. During her sign language classes, her professor showed her the apps and technology that she used. Drushya saw the struggle and knew that she wanted to create something that was safer for individuals with hearing loss. She knew that in a hearing world, there were better alternatives to be safe. 
• Micah has been working on startups for a long time. Growing up, he was profoundly influenced by his parents’ dedication to helping others, instilling in him a passion for making a difference. He was inspired to work with Drushya after knowing a friend who experienced a tragedy from missing an important sound alert. Micah is inspired to solve simple problems and create solutions to solve these problems.  

What is the need for this app? 

• There are so many alternatives such as flashing appliances, flashing doorbells, flashing and vibrating alarms. These can be expensive and aren’t always portable. When traveling, a person with hearing loss would need to travel with all of these devices to feel safe. This app is able to recognize frequencies of a microwave, a dog growling and water running nationally and internationally. Now with this app, the phone can listen and alert in the same way as these devices. This app also removes communication barriers. While ordering coffee or talking with someone, you no longer have to flip your phone. This app flips the conversation for you and also has text to speech and speech to text. 

How does Taptic detect sound?

• Taptic uses your smartphone’s built-in microphone to continuously monitor ambient sounds. When a significant sound is detected, the app processes the audio and converts it into corresponding tactile vibrations and flashlight alerts. These sounds can include doorbells, water running, a dog barker, emergency sirens, etc.  

How does this address the need?

• Everyone has a phone and this app allows individuals with disabilities and hearing loss to move around the auditory world safely. This is a universal accessibility to all people especially those with a hearing loss. 

How is this app unique?

• Taptic does not need wifi, it does not collect any data, it listens to frequencies, it can be brought anywhere, anytime and there is text to speech. The app can be used with adults, teenagers, families and professionals. Taptic can also connect to any bluetooth device such as a watch or  bluetooth vibrating device. Taptic prioritizes user privacy and data security – the app does not store any audio recordings or personal data. Speech transcription is processed in real-time and not saved.

How did you come up with the name?

It is a combination of tap and haptic. When a d/Deaf person tries to get your attention, they tap on your shoulder to get your attention and a notification or vibration is a haptic is a response so taptic is trying to be your tap on your shoulder.

Taptic is now available in the App store. To learn more, please visit the app’s Website.

FHSR is not associated with and does not benefit from the promotion of the taptic app.