Seeing with music

A new device uses music to help the visually impaired “see.” The EyeMusic is a sensory substitution device (SSD) that was developed for the purpose of not only helping to sense the user’s environment, but also aiding in the performance of daily activities. It converts images into “soundscapes,” or a combination of musical notes, by representing pixels at high vertical locations as high-pitched notes and those at low vertical locations with low-pitched notes. The timing of the musical notes represents the horizontal location of the pixels, while the instruments used to make the sounds represent color. In addition, the sounds were designed to produce music that would be pleasant to the user’s ear. In a study using individuals who were not visually impaired but were blindfolded, EyeMusic was able to guide them to “create a relatively precise spatial representation,” lead investigator Shelly Levy-Tzedek said.