2026 Galleries
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2026 Galleries // 2026 Spark: Spring Student // D.ear
D.ear
Winner - Silver
Competition:
Spark: Spring Student
Designer:
Dayoung Yoon
Design Type:
Product design / UXUI
Company / Organization / School:
Korea design membership plus
Team Members:
Dayoung Yoon, Eunji Kim, Yejun Cho & Na Hyun Woo
An estimated 5–10% of dogs — around 4.8 to 9.6 million in the U.S. — have hearing loss, but no device exists to help them. Since congenital and hereditary deafness cannot be cured, restoring communication is more realistic than restoring hearing.
Without sound, dogs rely only on sight and touch. They miss warning sounds, face greater safety risks, and lose their everyday connection with their owners.
d.ear uses bone conduction to turn sound into vibrations that stimulate the auditory nerve through the skull. It bypasses the eardrum and middle ear — no surgery needed, and it works for many types of hearing loss.
The app tests hearing, then sets the right mode: vibration, sound amplification, or both. Each command gets a unique vibration pattern, giving the dog its own signal language. Training repeats sound and vibration together to build habits, and outdoor mode sends a signal with one button.
d.ear helps dogs notice the world again — and helps owners reconnect with their pets.
