When you take your hearing devices off at night, how do you know if a fire alarm sounds?
For Gargi Agrawalla, a cochlear implant user and Loughborough University graduate, that concern sparked an idea. Drawing on her own experiences in hotels, she developed SIVO.GO, a portable sensory alarm designed to help deaf and hard-of-hearing people notice important alerts when their hearing devices are off.
Her invention has won the UK national James Dyson Award 2026, bringing recognition to a challenge that many in our Pindrop community will understand. Read the BBC report.
An Idea Shaped by Personal Experience
Staying somewhere unfamiliar can raise practical questions about accessibility. Will you notice someone knocking at the door? How will you know if an emergency alarm sounds while you are sleeping or showering?
Gargi, who was born profoundly deaf, developed SIVO.GO as her final-year Product Design project. Her experience helped her identify the gaps that can arise when people remove their hearing devices.
Speaking about the award, she said: “I designed it from my own experience as a deaf cochlear implant user”. Loughborough University
How SIVO.GO Works
SIVO.GO uses artificial intelligence to recognise fire alarms and doorbells. A separate sensor detects knocks and door movement, and the system communicates alerts through coloured lights, screen symbols and vibrations.
Sound processing happens on the device, so it does not need Wi-Fi or cloud processing to recognise these sounds. Its portable design aims to bring several alerting functions together in one system for use when travelling. Loughborough University
Recognition for Accessible Design
The UK award includes £5,000 to support further development of the prototype.
Dyson lead design engineer and judge Rumyana Dancheva praised the invention as a “brilliant example of a simple solution to a complex problem”. Her comments also recognised the role Gargi’s personal experience played in shaping the design. BBC News
For Pindrop, this is an encouraging example of what can happen when people with lived experience of hearing loss help develop the technology they need. Familiar frustrations can become the starting point for ideas that deserve wider attention.
What Happens Next?
SIVO.GO is still a prototype undergoing development. Gargi plans to refine the technology, improve reliability, expand testing with users and work towards certification and pilot manufacture. Loughborough University
Congratulations, Gargi! We look forward to following SIVO.GO’s progress and seeing how your experience continues to shape its development.
