Success Stories
About the project
On Stars of Science Season 5, Anwar Almojarkesh developed an assistive pillow for the hearing impaired. The shrewd engineer found a smart way to use the power of advanced sound recognition technology. He worked day and night to teach his pillow how to ‘hear’ fire alarms, home security alarms, doorbells, and other sounds. The result was a pillow that does so much more than comfort its users after a hard day’s work. It is actually the most advanced pillow around – one that alerts those with hearing impairments to incidents in their surroundings.
Using vibration, light, and smell (as well as a smartphone app), the pillow gently and assuredly wakes the user when various situations arise. The strength of vibrations and other effects automatically adjust to the severity of the situation in which users find themselves. Now, the hearing impaired can rest easy, knowing that Anwar’s invention will wake them if danger strikes in the middle of the night.
Beyond Stars of Science
Anwar’s career as an innovator has been glorious and is still going strong. Since the age of 14, he has won over 40 awards and prizes. Anwar and his wife are currently based in England where they got Tier1 Exceptional talent visa, a very unique visa scheme introduced by the government and issued for only 200 talented people per year.
His company Braci specializes in technology solutions for the hearing impaired. Braci was named one of the most inspirational companies in the country according to The Creative England 50 research. The index celebrates businesses across sectors that have created a commercial success from a bright idea.
Using a mobile phone, Braci analyzes sounds in the user’s environment, sending out alerts of events that may require the user’s attention. After securing investments of over $1 million from the UK and Denmark, Anwar is operating in both countries. Tested and approved, Braci’s sound recognition platform is available globally for city councils, educational institutions, hearing clinics and Anwar’s technology has been ordered by Qatar Assistive Technology Center (Mada).
The advanced sound detection technology developed by the ambitious entrepreneur during his participation in SOS has received a range of awards at start-up competitions across the world, including in Finland and the Czech Republic. He was awarded incubation support for his company by an accelerator program in Denmark and from the RubixLab program based in the Slovakian city of Bratislava.
Collaborating with one of the largest lighting companies in the UK, Anwar has been developing solutions for futuristic cities. He partnered up with London Midlands, the leading train operator in the UK, working on a project that aims to minimize the number of people who jump on train tracks and another sensor that detects failures of train engines and train tracks. Along with his wife who’s also an innovator, they have been working on an algorithm that analyses snoring sounds to assist doctors in choosing adequate remedies.
Furthermore, Anwar signed a partnership with one of the biggest assistive technology retailers in South Africa. Closer to the SOS home base, Anwar received an Innovation funding from MADA in Doha to develop the first money reader application for Qatari currency for people with sight vision problems. The app has been used in Qatar and he is currently working on developing a new version of his money reader app with Qatar Central Bank (QCB) and Mada for both Android and IOS.
This second version of the Qatari money reader app will include the reading of the new Qatari bank notes and other functions such as rate exchange for blind users, scanning of foreign bank notes (BP and USD in addition to QR), counting money to minimize the need to ask others how much money a person has in their wallet as well as fake notes recognition through AI vision and Deep Learning.
A similar app, also in its second version and already on the app store, was commissioned by the Al Noor Association in Oman to read the new Omani banknotes as well as Khaleeji currencies (QR, DRh, SR, KD, BD and OR).
Keeping busy on multiple fronts, Anwar is working on a third project in collaboration with the NHS on its “The Snore Relief Project.” This app which has reached clinical trials uses the same sound classification algorithm which he had begun working on during his time on Stars of Science. The algorithm recognizes snoring and in particular the type of snoring associated with sleep apnea disorder and can be used as an early diagnostic tool that is contact-free for the first time. The British Ministry of Health dedicated more than a year in funding, logistics and trials for Anwar’s project which is already receiving positive feedback from the second largest sleep clinic in the UK.
In America, he’s working on a fourth project in the music industry relating to digital rights in a time where the internet has made such an app a necessity for artists.
Anwar is widening his horizons even more with his fifth project supported by the University of Birmingham. An algorithm that relies on an acoustic sensor to classify the sounds of birds and bats in an attempt to understand their different behaviours in relation to climate change and their changing habitats and habits is currently in development.
Personal Reflection
“I really recommend all young people with innovative ideas to participate and change their lives through SOS! It is thrilling to start something on paper and then see it in front of your eyes. You do not have to be one of the top four innovators to succeed. It is important to know what to do after your SOS journey ends. I got the fifth place and I kept working on my project till it came true. You just have to keep working and applying to accelerator programs after SOS is a must. “
Follow Anwar
Facebook:Anwar Almojarkesh
Twitter:@AnwarMojarkesh
Instagram:@Anwarmojarkesh
Media Links
http://www.ageukhearingaids.co.uk/hearing-aid-news/amazing-hearing-technology
http://timesofoman.com/article/124133
