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28th January 2021
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Yorkshire engineer's new creation helps disabled kids and features on DIY SOS: The Big Build
Huddersfield-based engineer, Andy Pullen, founder and owner of waterproof TV manufacturer, TechVision, has come up with a new product that featured on the first episode of the new series of DIY SOS: The Big Build, on BBC 1 yesterday.
"The soundbathe is a nifty little gadget that turns your bath into a giant speaker and plays music from any Bluetooth-enabled device," explains Andy.
"We met a researcher from the BBC at a trade show in London last year and she was really excited and thought that it would be a great sensory product for disabled kids as you can feel the vibrations in the water as well as hear the music. She already had it in mind for this particular family - two dads who have adopted four children, three with disabilities and complex medical needs and when they started planning the filming they got back in touch."
The show featured one of the biggest and most ambitious projects that the Big Build team has ever tackled. The family of seven were crammed into a three-bedroom bungalow with one child sleeping in the living room and one in a boot room and medical supplies crammed in everywhere, and so the team decided to knock everything down and build a brand new, bespoke five-bedroom home in just nine days. And central to this new design were unique bathrooms that suited the needs of this unique family:
"One of the key parts of the design was a hi-tech adjustable height bath with hoists and our soundbathe was the icing on the cake to make bath time a more calming, fun and sensory experience for all the family," says Andy.
"We went down to Kent and fitted it ourselves and we couldn't have got a better response! Once it's fitted you can't see it and don't know that it's there, so we wanted to show it to the DIY SOS team before we left. Chris Frediani, the plasterer on the show, came to have a look and we just got his phone, connected it and played some of his music.
"The whole bathroom was a disco! He got really excited and shouted for the cameraman to come and get it on film. And he and the sound guy have since bought them for themselves.
"We've also had a lovely letter from the family saying how it has revolutionised their bath times. Their teenager loves baths and music and is now in the bath for hours singing his heart out, and their younger son loves feeling the vibrations.
"And it's the same in our house too - we've got two teenage boys who we struggled to get in the bath once a week, but now we can't get them out of there! We've all got our own bathtime playlists and the boys spend hours creating theirs."
The soundbathe can be fitted to any bath and Andy is now looking into using them in birthing pools, spas and swimming pools, and even on garden decking. He and his distributors are currently talking to holiday parks about fitting them to hot tubs and even caravans.
Until the end of the month, the soundbathe is available from TechVision with a £100 discount (25%) for £299 (normal RRP is £399) using discount code: DIYSOS0617, via the website:
T: 01484 851717
E: [email protected]
W: www.techvision.co.uk
9th June 2017