Unfear is the first smart noise cancelling app developed to protect autistic and hearing impaired people from frightening noises. A target that is usually forgotten.

This healthcare innovation development needed the verification of different medical organizations. For Unfear we worked with 10 of the most prestigious ASD organizations in Spain and we received the scientific endorsement of the Spanish Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health.

The AI app had to be developed by a multidisciplinary team among agency creatives, doctors, programmers, sound engineers, psychologists… and the essential help of ASD people who also tested it with their therapists, specialized doctors and their

Situation: Globally, 70M people are on the autism spectrum (ASD). They suffer panic attacks or anxiety crises due to hyperacusis, a hearing sensitivity to specific noises, such as barks, sirens or construction works.

Brief: Actual noise cancellation technology blocks all noises for people with autism. But this also isolates them. Samsung needed a smart and universal solution to suppress the noises without limiting the lives of over 450K ASD Spaniards.

Objective: Use an existing Samsung technology: Galaxy Buds2 Pro earphones. Through this wearable device we create an A.I. app that suppresses certain noises and improves the quality of life of people with ASD. With Unfear, we transform actual Samsung devices into an effective and free tool that gives a new audio experience and interaction with the world to the autistic community.

Spain is one of the most sociable countries in the world and also one of the noisiest, so it is natural that a tool that allows those affected to interact with the environment and people has been very well received. Unfear goes beyond noise cancellation, creating a great solution for the autistic community.

This new app provides greater emotional well-being and a better quality of life for people with ASD and acoustic sensitivity, it was launched at the end of March 2023, in order to get some traction during World Autism Awareness Day on April 2. Launching it on this date helped us to highlight their needs in the news.

Finally, to demonstrate the effectiveness of Unfear in a real-life scenario, a video showing the app during the Fallas, the noisiest festival in Spain was made. Here, a child with ASD enjoyed this fireworks festival for the first time in his life.

Unfear is a smart noise cancellation app that protects people with ASD and hearing disorders. Using advanced AI, it recognizes and suppresses stressful noises in real time by continuously listening and pinpointing each sound before cross-referencing thousands of audios through its 5 functions:

OUTSIDE SOUND MODE automatically cancels ambient noises selected by the user through an educated algorithm with more than 2M sounds.

MOBILE CONTENT MODE equalizes the sound coming from the phone, to offer an adapted audio. It has 4 programs: Movies, Video games, Social networks and Music.

FOCUS MODE mutes ambient sound except for conversations. Only the user's voice reopens the microphones and interrupts the mode.

CALM MODE automatically plays a relaxing audio when the user is upset. This allows the user to calm down and return to normal.

SOS BUTTON automatically calls the emergency contact to follow up the crisis in real time.

July & August of 2022: We get the Technology with a Purpose brief to help the society with techno creativity. After a few rounds of ideas, Unfear is born. During these first weeks we start conversations with ASD organizations to see if they find interest in it.

September 2022: Acid Tango, a software development studio is contacted. The development of the application begins.

October, November & December 2022: Meetings with medical teams, therapists, psychologists and programmers are held to gather information about ASD and how a tool like Unfear can be useful for the collective and their families. A beta tool app gets developed in parallel.

January & February 2023: Start testing with the help of the 10 main Autism associations in Spain, including the Spanish Confederation of Autism. Meanwhile we apply the testers feedback and keep improving the app.

March 2023: Finalization of the beta app to be presented to the Spanish Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health, which scientifically endorses the app after evaluating it. Acid Tango and the agency continue with the app development and configuration of the modes.

April 2023: The app gets launched to the general public right before the World Autism Awareness Day (April 2nd) the agency shares a launch video and press releases by the brand to generate awareness in the media. Unfear starts being downloaded from the platforms (Galaxy Store and Google Play).

May & June 2023: The app development continues with new versions and improvements based on users feedback.

July 2023 - present: Ongoing maintenance of the application gets done and Unnoise gets also developed. A 2.0 of the same app aimed exclusively for people with mild acoustic sensitivity. Unfear is still learning and it's in preparation for expansion to being translated to other languages to get to a larger community of users across the globe.

Unfear works as a smart and customizable noise cancellation.

Through machine learning, our technology listens and identifies sounds and automatically turns on Active Noise Cancelling when detecting that it may be disturbing to the user, both from the earphones' microphones and from the connected device. Thanks to this method we manage to compensate and reduce the sound impact, limiting the stress or lack of concentration caused.

Unfear is a free application. All you need is an Android device (version 10 or higher) and a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro earphones (limited app feature also available with any other headphone model).

Unfear is not just an advertising campaign it’s a useful active application ready to be downloaded from the Google Play and Galaxy Store.

The design of the app with pictograms facilitates cognitive accessibility and usability for users with ASD.

To date, the outcome is positive: From over +5,000 downloads with a user rating of 4.7/5, to outstanding testimonials from medical professionals and a scientific endorsement. In addition, more than 200 local and international media, both general and from the advertising industry, talked about Unfear, achieving over 1M earned media.

This also helped to increase downloads and usage of the app, give visibility to the ASD community and reaffirm Samsung's commitment to help through technology being finalist in 2023 in the national Efficency awards.

During the app's first months in the market, the brand donated +100 Galaxy Buds2 Pro to the leading autism associations promoting its use and demonstrating its effectiveness.

Unfear continues the Samsung’s Technology with Purpose campaign started over a decade ago. The brand has worked on more than 30 projects investing more than 25 million euros to help and improve people's lives through innovation.