Neil Harbisson dressed in C major
Some persons suffer from neurological disorders by which musical experiences are combined with visual ones: notes, chords are perceived as colors, and the other way round, like in Synesthesia for instance. Olivier Sacks who studied different neurological phenomena and particularly those linked to music mentioned that the contemporary composer Michael Torke once said to his wife: “I love this blue passage”. Not being sure of what she heard, his wife asked him “Blue?” “Yes, this passage in D major … D major is blue”.
Neil Harbisson suffers from anther kind of disorder. He was born with achromatopsia, which prevents him from seeing colors. The world is perceived in different shades of gray. This lead him to develop with computer scientists in 2003 a device which takes the form of an antenna implanted in his skull. The antenna uses audible vibrations in his skull to report information to him. A kind of new sense which translates colors, images in vibrations, in sounds. This new electronic eye enables him to switch from colors to sound and the other way round in a unique way. The day of his TED conference for instance (TED conference de Neil Harbisson) he was dressed in C major. But for him other events will call for other chords : funeral will be associated with B minor which means turquoise, purple, orange.
When Neil looks at a painting, which for him is mainly a mixture of diffent types of gray, his electronic eye will generate vibrations perceived as sounds. He can listen to a painting! And a good looking face does not necessarily means a nice sounding music. He has noticed some unexpected similarities between Prince Charles and Nicole Kidman, for instance: the sound of their eyes is similar, according to him.
After some time with his new device, he started to develop the reverse faculty: sounds became interpreted as images : the ring of his phone was green! From there, to paint music was a natural step. Below, a representation of the “Queen of the Night” from Mozart opera the Magic Flute and of « Baby », the Justin Bieber song
Queen of the Night (Mozart) (on the left) and Baby (Justin Bieber) (on the right)
(reproduced with the kind authorization of Neil Harbisson)
If music can be painted, what about voices? I reproduce below tha way Neil sees two different voices – the voice of Hitler on the left and the voice of Martin Luther King on the right.
Voices from Hitler (on the left) and from Martin Luther King (on the right)
(reproduced with the kind authorization of Neil Harbisson)
Neil has now decided to go beyond the visible world and to use artificial senses to extend the perception of reality. He co-founded in 2010 a foundation to promote cyborgism as an art and support those who want to become cyborgs like him.