Gargi Agrawalla’s final-year design project addresses an everyday gap: receiving environmental alerts when hearing devices are removed for sleep or a shower.
For Gargi Agrawalla, designing SIVO.GO began with experience she knew firsthand. A profoundly deaf cochlear implant user, she wanted a more portable way to receive important alerts when her hearing devices were off.
She developed the system while studying Product Design at Loughborough University. In a September 16, 2026 announcement, the university named her the UK national James Dyson Award winner.
The prototype translates selected sounds and door activity into light, screen symbols and vibration. It remains under development, with reliability testing and certification work ahead.
An everyday problem that travels with the user
The university describes a challenge for travellers: existing alerting arrangements can involve several devices or depend on what accommodation provides.
Removing hearing devices for sleeping or showering can reduce awareness of sounds in the surrounding room. Gargi’s design addresses those particular situations through a system intended to travel with its owner.
The aim is practical control over an alerting setup, including in unfamiliar accommodation.
The Cochlear Implant International Community of Action, known as CIICA, also documented her achievement. It notes that Gargi had previously contributed to its Young Adults with Cochlear Implants Agenda, sharing experience around support and accessibility in higher education.
That background places the project within her wider engagement with accessibility.
How SIVO.GO communicates an alert
According to the university, Gargi trained a sound-classification model using more than 500 labelled audio samples. It runs on the device, recognizing sounds such as fire alarms and doorbells without Wi-Fi or cloud processing.
The James Dyson Award project entry describes colour-coded lights, screen symbols and adjustable vibrations, with Room, Bed and Bath modes.
This is an alternative way of communicating information about the surroundings. It does not restore hearing or replace a cochlear implant.
The description also distinguishes a working proof-of-concept from polished product renders. Images of a proposed finished design should not be treated as proof that every intended feature is complete.
Why door knocks needed a different approach
One revealing decision came from testing. Gargi reports that knocks varied with the door and could resemble footsteps or tapping, making sound classification unreliable.
She changed the approach to use a separate vibration sensor for door activity. The system therefore combines sound recognition with physical sensing.
User research also affected the form. Participants preferred a compact direction, and testing prompted a simpler interface with tactile controls. The project account describes trying housings for grip, one-handed handling and comfort under a pillow.
The distinction is useful: a technology can work for one signal without being the best way to detect another.
What users wanted from the design
CIICA’s account highlights priorities emerging from research with deaf and hard-of-hearing users: reliable alerts, portability, strong vibration, discretion and independence.
Those priorities explain why the design extends beyond recognizing a noise. An alert must also reach the person in a form they can notice, in the setting where they need it.
Portability and discretion are part of that experience. So are the practical questions of where the device sits, how someone operates it and what they must carry.
A national award and further work ahead
The UK national award brought £5,000 toward development, according to Loughborough University.
Gargi’s plans include improving the prototype, expanding trials with users and accommodation providers, and working toward certification and pilot manufacture.
The available descriptions do not establish certified emergency performance, a commercial release or guaranteed overnight battery life. Trending American has not independently tested the device. Award recognition should not be read as safety certification.
SIVO.GO’s story is grounded in a designer identifying a gap, consulting other users and changing the design when testing exposed a weakness.
Its next steps will depend on continuing that process: making the alerts more dependable and the system easier to use in everyday settings.
Related reading: Himaja’s voice-controlled Braille printer and Esther Kimani’s solar-powered crop-alert system.
Reporting draws on Loughborough University, the designer’s James Dyson Award entry and CIICA, linked above. Featured graphic supplied by Inspire All; supplied photo credits: Loughborough University and Gargi Agrawalla.