Turns Sound into Color
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| Auditory Visualization |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2017
Birmingham, Alabama
Research artists at Birmingham’s DS Art Studio today announced that they have developed a new computer application that transfers color variations into auditory signals capable of selectively stimulating sensitive regions in the optical cortex of the human brain. The breakthrough technology not only promises unparalleled relief for the visually impaired, but could redefine the future of personal entertainment.
“Turning color into auditory vibrations and back again is old-school technology, used widely in everything from video games to rock concerts to astrophysics,” reports Dr. Don Stewart of DS Art. "The real trick is turning sound into meaningful impulses that correspond to shape, form and color inside the mind.”
The genesis of the new technology arose when Stewart and his wife, color artist Sue Ellen Brown, began exploring data merges between commercial illustration programs and the standard Garage Band app on their desktop computers.
“At first we just started transducing digital files of black and white drawings into static fields of sound waves. Once we cleared that hurdle, the rest was just cleaning up the math,” Stewart said.
The big breakthrough came when researchers at Southern Auditronics, headquartered in Wedowee, AL, managed to piggyback the DS Art audio information stream onto a background carrier frequency – a subsonic wave that stimulates the cortex in the posterior regions of the brain, the area where the perception of vision actually takes place.
“It’s armchair science, really,” said Stewart, who trained as a physician before becoming an artist. “Everyone is familiar with the phenomenon of being hit on the head and seeing stars. Low-level vibration stimulates the brain cells in the optical region, and the frontal cortex interprets the signal as floating, flashing lights."
By isolating this specialized group of subsonic frequencies, the audio researchers were able to produce the same phenomenon. "After that it was just a question of fine-tuning the input waveforms to produce more complex images,"
Experimental subjects report cloudy impressions during the first few trials, but these usually clear up into crisp visualization after a few sessions. “Like most things, it gets better with practice.”
Smart Phone Applications
“Imagine our surprise,” Brown said, "When we learned that the technology required to produce these energy transfers (transforming light to sound, and adding the carrier wave) already exists in most late-generation smart phones. All we had to do was write the software, and bottle it up in an app.”
With this new technology, users can now simply pop in their ear buds, close their eyes, and point their smart-phone cameras at anything they wish to see. The app turns the incoming light waves into digital sound patterns, then attaches the patterns to a low-frequency carrier that hums its way to the back of the head, where things really start to light up – at least to the perception of the viewer.
“Seeing With Your Ears”
Successful trials of image-to-sound transfer suggest a number of incredibly promising lines of scientific research, and commercial development.
The potential benefits are tremendous – not only will this breakthrough hold out the possibility of renewed visual experience for people with impaired sight; the researchers believe it may develop into an entirely new entertainment platform.
“Just think – you might never have to go to the movies or watch TV again. Visual media may simply be reduced to streams of digital sound. Virtual Reality headgear may be reduced to a set of headphones.” said Stewart.
The potential for interacting with other species may also be on the horizon. Scientists have long known that alligators communicate using subsonic vibrations, carried over long distances through the water. Could they in fact be sending visual images to each other?
We may soon find out.
CONTACT:
Donald B. Stewart
Sue Ellen Brown
DS Art Studio Gallery
2805 Crescent Ave
Homewood, AL 35209 USA
1-205-802-4700
www.DSArt.com
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