Digestly

Mar 31, 2025

Hear Colors: Tech Meets Human Perception 🎨🔊

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TED: A person with acromatopsia uses an electronic eye to hear colors through bone conduction.

TED - This device can turn COLORS into SOUND #TEDTalks #cooltech

The speaker was born with acromatopsia, a condition causing total color blindness. To perceive colors, they use an electronic eye that detects color frequencies and transmits them to a chip in their head, allowing them to hear colors through bone conduction. This technology has significantly changed their life, enabling them to experience art and everyday environments in a new way. For instance, they can 'listen' to paintings like a concert and find supermarkets to be vibrant auditory experiences, akin to nightclubs, due to the variety of sounds produced by different products, especially cleaning supplies.

Key Points:

  • Acromatopsia causes total color blindness, but technology allows hearing colors.
  • An electronic eye detects color frequencies and transmits them to a chip in the head.
  • Bone conduction enables the perception of colors as sounds.
  • Art and environments become auditory experiences, enhancing life quality.
  • Supermarkets and paintings provide rich, varied soundscapes.

Details:

1. 🎨 Born with Acromatopsia: Hearing Colors

1.1. Understanding Acromatopsia

1.2. Perceiving Colors Through Sound

2. 👁️ The Electronic Eye: Sensing Colors through Sound

  • The electronic eye is a sophisticated color sensor that translates visual color frequencies into auditory signals through bone conduction, providing an alternative sensory experience for the visually impaired.
  • Installed at the back of the head, the device allows users to 'hear' colors, enhancing their interaction with the environment by converting colors into unique sound frequencies.
  • This technology enables visually impaired users to distinguish colors in their surroundings, offering them increased independence and an enhanced quality of life.

3. 🔊 Experiencing the World Differently: Sounds of Colors

  • The individual experiences the world by hearing colors, with specific sounds attributed to purple, grass, and red, illustrating a unique sensory perception.
  • This ability has dramatically altered their perception of the environment, potentially influencing lifestyle changes and interactions.
  • The impact on daily life is significant, as the ability to hear colors offers a new dimension of interaction with the world and enhances sensory experiences.

4. 🎶 Art and Supermarkets: A Symphony of Colors

  • Viewing art, such as a Picasso, is likened to attending a concert, emphasizing the multi-sensory aspect of art appreciation.
  • Supermarkets are compared to nightclubs due to their vibrant mix of stimuli, particularly in aisles with cleaning products, highlighting unexpected aesthetic experiences in everyday settings.
  • This analogy encourages a deeper appreciation of the sensory experiences present in both art galleries and supermarkets, suggesting that beauty and inspiration can be found in mundane places.