Neil Harbisson, an artist and self-described cyborg who was born with Achromatopsia, a recessive genetic condition that renders an individual completely unable to see color, has found a very creative way to interpret the world around him. He uses an antenna that has been implanted into his skull, which listens to the sound waves emitted by the colors around him, including those belonging to people.
Cyborg activist and artist. I’m totally colourblind, so I have an antenna implanted in my skull which allows me to hear colour frequencies – and even hear colours sent to me from space via satellite. …Hearing colours means I can listen to people’s faces, write down the different notes I hear, and create a sound portrait. Each face has its own chord – even twins sound different – but what we all have in common is the sound of our skin. People who say they are black are actually very, very dark orange, and people who say they are white are actually very light orange – so we are not black or white; we are all orange.
images via Connected Series
via Flowing Data
