The man with high-tech synesthesia
Neil Harbisson hears colors.
Neil Harbisson hears colors, said Sally Davies in the Financial Times. The Northern Irish artist was born with extreme color blindness and grew up seeing the world in grayscale. “Kids at school teased me,” says the 30-year-old. “People found it funny when I wore mismatched socks.” In college in southern England, he befriended a cybernetics expert who agreed to build Harbisson a device that would allow him to perceive color. The result was the “eyeborg”—a high-tech headset fitted with a tiny camera that hangs over Harbisson’s forehead like a third eye. The gadget translates color frequencies into sound, which is then pulsed directly into his skull via a headband. The first thing he looked at with it was a red bulletin board. “It made the note F, the lowest on the spectrum. Red was my favorite color for years.” Harbisson wears the headset everywhere, and delights in sights that others take for granted. “The [supermarket] cleaning product aisle is very exciting. The rows of rainbow-colored bottles sound like a symphony.” The eyeborg has even changed how Harbisson approaches home decoration. “My bedroom is black and white, which are silent and allow me to sleep. The back of my front door is green, which is a middle-sounding note—like a tuning fork that resets me before I go out.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
What would it be like in jail for Trump if he's convicted?
Today's Big Question The Secret Service has begun grappling with how to protect a former president behind bars
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How much can you save shopping secondhand?
The Explainer Many Americans are buying pre-owned items to counteract the effects of inflation
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Downtown St. Louis is in a real estate 'doom loop'
Under the Radar The city is ripe with abandoned buildings and vacant lots, with its real estate market in dire straits
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published