Vodafone Firsts, the programme that enables people to do remarkable things for the first time with the help of mobile technology, has helped a 19-year-old deaf Dutch girl experience a music concert for the first time.
Vera van Dijk, a 19-year-old Dutch girl who was born deaf and has never been to a concert, is preparing for one of the most exciting moments of her life following a cochlear implant that allows her to hear certain sounds.
Vera started to hear a small number of musical notes when she received the implant two years ago. Because she had limited awareness of the type of music she may like, she accessed social media channels on her smartphone to ask the Dutch public to help Kyteman choose the first song that she would be able to hear perfectly.
To ensure that the sounds are audible to Vera, her #FirstConcert is being composed from scratch using the limited combination of frequencies that the cochlear implant enables her to hear. It is being composed by Kyteman, one of the most popular progressive musicians in the Netherlands, who has worked with Sting and other leading artists.
Using a Vodafone 4G phone, Vera was able to lip-read and communicate in a more direct way than ever before, to encourage friends and followers to listen to sample scores of music. This is another first for the teenager, who previously was only able to use a mobile phone to communicate by text.
Thousands of people voted, enabling Kyteman to select a tune and recompose it in the hope that Vera will be able to hear it perfectly.
Watch the new Vodafone Firsts video featuring Vera below: