Neil Harbisson was born with achromatopsia, total colorblindness. For Harbisson, television still appears in black and white. Since the age of 21, he has been able to detect colors using his sense of hearing rather than sight with a prosthetic device he calls an “eyeborg.” This device allows him to hear the color spectrum, even colors which the human eye cannot detect, such as Ultraviolet (UV) light and Infrared light. Subsequently, Harbisson describes his condition as “sonochromatism”, where he possesses an extra sense that relates color and sound. This is different than synesthesia, a condition in which in response to a stimulus, a sensory or cognitive pathway is triggered and leads to an involuntary response of another sensory or cognitive pathway.
In 2003, through his work with Adam Montandon, a cyberneticist (a person who studies the approaches for exploring systems, their structures, and their possibilities, including learning, social control, and communication) and Peter Kese, Harbisson helped to create the Electronic Eye which he now wears on his forehead. In 2009, Matias Lizana was able to convert the “eyeborg” into a chip. This chip is able to be implanted into the brain. Through this device, the frequencies of light are converted into sound frequencies, which Harbisson consequently hears. This Electronic Eye is a color sensor that detects the color frequency which is then sent to a chip in the back of his head. During this process, light is converted into lower-pitched tones that Harbisson can hear through the bone— called bone conduction. This ultimately allows Harbisson to hear color.
Since 2004, Harbisson has been hearing color. He has memorized the musical notes and would name the sound frequencies he heard according to the names of the colors. He gradually started having preferred colors— based on his favorite melodies and sound frequencies. Harbisson explains how he used to dress in a way that looked good, but now he dresses in a way that “sounds good.” As a result, he may wear colors that clash but “sound beautiful.” He explains how he will dress in B minor to a funeral— which is actually composed of the colors turquoise, purple, and orange.
Harbisson’s perception of beauty has also changed. When he looks at a person, he hears the person’s face. Someone may look beautiful but sound terrible. The opposite also occurs.
The Electronic Eye has secondary effects. Whenever Harbisson hears sounds, the sounds become colors (in addition to the original goal, where colors become sounds). Harbisson can now paint peoples’ voices, because the voices have frequencies that can be converted into colors. For example, Mozart is yellow in color.
Harbisson has added to his color spectrum colors that cannot be viewed by the human eye, such as Ultraviolet and Infrared light. He now knows whether it is a good day to sunbathe or not— he can hear the UV light outside. UV light is extremely dangerous for the human body so if he hears UV light (which varies in intensity depending on the day), he knows that it is not a safe day to be outside.
Rafel Duran Torrent, a Spanish film director, made a short video about Neil Harbisson in 2012. This film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival’s Focus Forward Filmmakers’ Competition in 2013.
Through this developing technology, those who are colorblind are now able to appreciate our beautifully tinted world through the eyes of color— even if it may be through the shade of music. Those who are blessed with clear eyesight can also benefit from the creation of such technology, as Harbisson comments, “If salads sounded like Justin Bieber, children would eat more vegetables.”