HF Graduate places in Industrial Design Competition at SIU

The other two finalists put a more direct focus on social change.

Briana Royster, a senior studying industrial design from Flossmoor, is on the team “D.Scribe.“ She said D.Scribe is a communication system that allows hearing-impaired individuals to have access to accurate transcriptions of conversations in the workplace by using portable microphone devices and a transcription application.

Royster said D.Scribe’s usefulness extends outside the workplace and beyond the hearing impaired.

“We came up with this idea by brainstorming about a product that could help hearing-impaired people in the workplace and also help other people inside and outside the workplace as well, to make the design more universal,” Royster said. “Everyone can benefit from having an important conversation transcribed and saved on their smart device, to read at anytime.”

Besides people with impaired hearing, Royster said people with autism and brain damage could also benefit.

“This fits the current theme of “Innovating for Impact” because communication accommodations are useful to everyone, not just the hearing impaired, this concept has the potential for huge social impact,” Royster said. “This impact could be measured by increased communication, productivity, and accessibility in the workplace.”

Royster’s fellow teammate in the D.Scribe project is Christopher Faller, a senior studying industrial design. Both she and Faller hope they can add D.Scribe to their portfolios so that they can start their careers as industrial designers as soon as possible.