Abstract: There is provided an environment sensing system for the deaf/hearing-impaired. A user wears a personal unit for notifying him/her of a sound event in its surrounding environment. The personal unit is also in communication with a central station, for the user to request immediate assistance. When receiving a sound event message from a sound detection unit in the environment, the personal unit vibrates and displays a notification on a screen. At any time, the user may request immediate assistance to the central station using push buttons located on the personal unit. The central station may contact the user by displaying inquiries or messages on the screen. The user may then confirm that immediate assistance is actually required or communicate more information to the central station using the push buttons.