An air-raid siren awakened Erez Lugashi one night in 2014. As he ran for shelter, he wondered: What would a deaf person doin this situation?
That question led the experienced Tel Aviv entrepreneur to start Abilisense. The idea was to develop software for IoT devices, such as smart watches, that sends vibrating or visual alerts to hearing-impaired individuals about anything from an air-raid siren to a crying baby.
Abilisense was incubated at the A3i Israeli accelerator for assistive technologies. The startup won Israeli government and Microsoft grants for developing products for deaf people.
And while Herzliya-based Abilisense is expanding into general security and safety applications as it gets closer to commercialization, the original goal of helping the deaf remains important to Lugashi.