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June 23, 2008, 01:57 PM ET
The Sound of Colors
Researchers at the Balearic Islands University in Spain are developing a device that will allow blind children to distinguish colors by associating each shade to a specific sound.
The project, dubbed COL-diesis, is based on the synesthesia principle—a confusion of senses where people involuntarily relate the real information gathered by one sense with a different sensation.
“Only 4 percent of the population are true synesthetes, but everybody else is influenced by associations between sounds and colors,” said Jessica Rossi, one of the coordinators of the project. For example, people tend to associate light colors with high-pitched sounds.
“We want to give the user a device that allows [blind children] to chose specific associations of colors and sounds based on each user’s sensitivity,” Rossi said.
The device will include a sensor the blind kids will wear on their fingertips to touch the objects they want to know the colors of, and a bracelet that will transform the color into a sound. The researchers expect to have their prototype ready by September.—Maria José Viñas
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