00:00 Jack and Max have always loved music, but it's not the easiest thing for them to enjoy.
00:07 With live music and big speakers, it's just a rush of bass through the floor.
00:12 So I'm like, am I actually following the right timing? Am I dancing properly?
00:16 They were born deaf and have only ever felt music via vibrations through the floor until now.
00:24 Haptic vests are equipped with 24 actuators which act like small electronic drums and send vibrations through the skin.
00:34 The intensity and frequency can be changed to raise the pitch or deepen the bass to match the shape of music.
00:43 It felt like I'd gotten goosebumps.
00:45 I could have never imagined what this had felt like.
00:53 The vests were free to use at this year's Deaf Festival in Sunshine, which included a performance by the Deaf Indigenous Dance Group.
01:01 Often we feel left out, isolated when it comes to mainstream music and theatre, so this helps us feel included.
01:06 There are many people out there who are deaf and hard of hearing that love music and they do enjoy it.
01:11 There are many people out there who are deaf and hard of hearing that love music and they do miss out.
01:16 They will go, they will sit there, smile and put up with the fact they don't have access.
01:20 And with just a simple addition of this vest would just boost their level of access and enjoyment.
01:26 There's only 100 of these vests in the world, including 12 in Australia.
01:31 But production is expected to ramp up next year so more people can feel the music.
01:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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