Mar 7th, 2008
Cyborgs walk amongst us
An artist born with a congenital inability to view colours is now preparing for his first exhibit in London. And surprisingly, his phone booths will be red and his Barcelona recycling bins will be multicolored.
Neil Harbisson suffers from achromatopsia. This means he is unable to see world in anything but black and white. A meeting with a cybernetics specialist changed all that.
Adam Montandon was giving a lecture at Dartington College of arts in Devon when he met the art student. The cybernetics expert took up the challenge offered by his inability and provided a simple yet brilliant solution.
How can Neil see colours?
A digital camera is mounted on the head of the student. Connected to a laptop he wears in a backsack, coulours captured by the device are then transformed in sounds. The computer transmits those sounds to a prothesis placed in the ear of the artist who can now «hear» colours.
More informations (including a picture of the device) can be found on Times.
Hi, My name is Adam Montandon and I am the inventor of the eyeborg, neils colour blind system. I have written more about it here:
http://www.adammontandon.com/2008/03/bridging-island-of-colourblind.html