Have you ever been in a club or at a concert and you could feel the music in your chest? Well there’s soon going to be a way to do that without damaging your hearing.
Julie’s Thoughts
My family lineage boasts a WW2 lounge singer, a violinist in a national symphony orchestra, several opera singers, multiple instrumentalists, a jazz drummer, a budding Broadway star and enough vocalists to fill a choir. My world has been filled with music from Puccini to the Pogues and back again, but I am the sole member of my large family with hearing loss. I have been fortunate to have benefited from the use of hearing aids, and can still access music for near-constant enjoyment, but my hearing is fading. The day will come when Sinatra’s velvet voice will no longer be heard, and I will lose the ability to blast my beloved college fight song at top volume on game day. The thought of losing music when my hearing completes its inevitable decline is an unspeakable heartbreak.
Enter Jeremy Chow – the extraordinary engineer and visionary behind Tactus Music. Inspired by a college professor who is a member of the deaf/hard of hearing community, Jeremy created an absolutely revolutionary product designed to provide unparalleled access to music for the deaf/hard of hearing through the use of embedded and strategically placed technology inside clothing. Through the use of Bluetooth and other technological magic, the wearer of the clothing, currently available in jacket and vest form, is enveloped in a world of vibrations. The touchpoints place the magic of music on to the individual, and it is – in a word – breathtaking.
Brad and I were fortunate enough to have crossed paths with Jeremy at the Boston Walk4Hearing event in October 2025. We made our introductions, but unfortunately did not have enough time to engage in a lengthy conversation about the innovative technology that Jeremy had developed. He graciously invited us to visit him and his team at their location in Cambridge, and as we are never one to pass on a field trip, we met up with him a few weeks later.
The building where Tactus Music headquarters is currently located screams of creativity, technology, cutting edge designs, and incredible solutions of every type. I felt energized entering the space, and even more ecstatic for what we would be seeing and learning about during our visit. As a teacher, I am always in a school setting surrounded by pencil sharpeners, primary colors, and snack wrappers. Stepping into this environment so different from where I spend my own work day, I felt like I had entered Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.
Jeremy shared his backstory with us, his creative inspiration, and a bit about the design process from prototypes to the realized product that we were able to view and experience. Always an aspiring fashionista, the first thing I did was feel the materials, check it for stretchiness, and look at the design elements. I fell in love with it at first touch and sight from a clothing perspective, and was to be equally impressed and enamored by the technological feats. Brad, of course, went right for the inner workings and technology design. We work well together because neither of us understands the questions or answers the other one engages in most of the time. Together, we eventually get a complete understanding.
I am confident that Brad’s version will delve into the “tech side” of the Tactus Music clothing creation, so I will spare you my well-intentioned yet feeble attempt at explaining it all. Instead, I will jump right to my hands-on experience.
Brad tried on the vest version first, and it was a delight to watch the excitement on his face as he felt the music through the vest, and even more delightful was watching Jeremy’s face light up as his creation came to life for someone new to the product. The best moments of my day are watching the “lightbulb moments” for my students when something clicks for them – and that was exactly how I felt watching Brad and Jeremy interact about the Tactus vest. I felt so proud of them both even though they are grown men and not my students – I guess I am a teacher no matter where I am or what I am doing!
I wandered over and placed my hand on the touchpoints that vibrated and responded to the music on the vest while Brad wore it so I could get a sense of the technology. I was amazed that it all synched to your personal device through the use of Bluetooth, and that the music was literally “felt” on your body. The intensity of the vibrations were dependent on your volume control, too, which was wild. I was shocked that I was able to decipher the song by rhythm and found that I didn’t miss the actual audio input.
I shrugged into a Tactus jacket for the first time, and while I have always connected deeply with music, this was the first time that I truly felt it. Frank Sinatra’s “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” flooded through me – and I was near tears. For once, I was rendered speechless which is a rare occasion.
As my hearing continues to decline, this was the first time that I felt peaceful in the midst of fear. It is likely that my hearing will one day disappear, and I will be left in silence. But – due to Jeremy’s forward thinking and innovation – I can truly “face the music and dance”.
Brad’s Thoughts
There’s more to music than just the sound. A few things come to mind when I think about this.
I think of all those car speakers that have succumbed to my desire to rock out. I think of my brother telling how a speaker pumping out Dream Theater at The Avalon sent his coat a-flapping. I think of the game Deaf kids like to play called “Loud”. In Carol Padden’s Deaf in America, she related how Deaf kids are so attuned to vibrations, they would stand in the corner of a room and shout at the top of their lungs. The shout would bounce off the walls and they would feel the sound in their chests.
Jeremy Chow, the brains behind Tactus Music, is remixing this idea. He was inspired by professor Laurie Achin, who is Deaf. She is also a dancer and choreographer who used to place her hand on the speakers to learn the beat before cutting a rug. Jeremy used his engineering know-how to give her, a-hem, a hand. He designed a vest with haptic speakers that vibrate to the beat.
And we were lucky enough to try it on for size.
Julie and I took a field trip to see him and Maricarmen, interning from Northeastern to help get the word out. Jeremy, too, attended Northeastern. That means poor Julie was the only eagle in a room full of huskies. But fret not, she made it through unscathed. Mostly.
Before I get into the vest itself, I want to say one more word about Jeremy himself.
As he led us through the hallways to the meeting room, he took care to not speak with his back to us. I can’t tell you how much this meant to me. “But Brad,” you may be saying. “his company was inspired by a Deaf woman and is tailor made (I see what you did there) for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Of course he would have good DHH speech etiquette.” To that I say: “Pshaw!” It never ceases to amaze me how often people in audiology offices, people in the DHH community itself, or even Julie and I forget to practice such simple tactics. So I do not take his consideration for granted.
Now then, let’s get to the vest, shall we?
It’s astoundingly simple. To use. I’m sure it was confoundingly complex to build. There are four speakers sewn into the vest: two on the tops of the shoulders and two on the shoulder blades. The former beats out the bass, the latter taps out the treble. I asked him why they weren’t lower down. He said because it was inspired by a dancer, dummy! (OK, he didn’t say that last word). He wanted to allow freedom of movement and even the option to sit. By keeping the waist clear, there’s nothing to get in the way for either of these activities. Nor is there a cord tethering the wearer to a spot. It’s battery powerded…just like my hearing! The battery lasts six and half hours and only takes 30 minutes to charge. The battery pack is in a pocket at the bottom of vest. But it’s small enough to not get in the way.
Speaking of small…
The vest was too small for me to actually zip up. Jeremy knows his limitations and one of those is sewing. He has a newfound appreciation for those skilled-Singer users. So he’s sticking to the engineering part of things and lets other hande the sewing. And they’re all hand-sewn with the person responsible signing their work. Literally. No rubber stamp here. The person’s name who sewed the vest my wide-self was wearing was written right there. I loved this attention to detail.
Once wedged into the vest it was time to boogie.
I wondered if he’d had his laptop paired to the vest with songs that would allow his invention to really shine, queued up and ready to go. Nope! He had me pair my phone and use my Spotify account. But before I did, I needed to forget my hearing aids. This highlights not a flaw in his design, but rather the nuisance in the DHH community. He’d been inspired by a capital-D Deaf woman. Meanwhile I’m a lower case-d deaf dude. I have a goodly bit of my hearing left. Bluetooth technology is create but it’s a one-to-one thing. Since I had my bionic ears paired to my phone there was no room for the vest. With a tap here and a swipe there, I got that pairing out of the way and connected to the vest. I hit play and…
Chills.
The bass began to play on my shoulders. I was momentarily confused when there was no accompanying sound. But again, this was made for the Deaf community. This is how millions of people experience music. Just through the feel. In the stead of the volume turning up the sound, it turnt up the intensity. (He assuaged my concerns over blowing the speakers by saying I couldn’t.) It was incredible. I’m no music aficionado. I couldn’t play Name That Tune with unexpected songs. But expected songs were given an astounding remix. What was even more astounding was that when Julie tried on a vest she was rendered speechless.
I tried a few different genres of music to get a feel (literally) for how it worked. In case you’re interested here was my playlist
- Mannish Boy by Muddy Waters (THE classic Blues riff)
- Moby Dick by Led Zeppelin (the best drum solo for my money)
- Blackened by Metallica (a slow-building song that quickly becomes an assault on both bass and treble)
- Wakin’ by Miles Davis (my favorite song of his)
I can see libraries adding them to our library of things collections. They won’t break the bank for many people but it’s such an inspired idea that most people would want to try it before they buy it. Which is one of the reasons libraries loan out things like Kindles, GoPros, and, closer to this accessible point, colorblind glasses.
Can you feel the beat?
A new way to hear music.
Music is for all.
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