Blind people can hear and feel April’s total solar eclipse with new technology
The LightSound box translates changing light into sounds.
When the sun is bright, there will be high, delicate flute notes. As the moon begins to cover the sun, the mid-range notes are those of a clarinet. Darkness is rendered by a low clicking sound.
#TotalSolarEclipse #SolarEclipse #eclipse #astronomy #blind #LightSound #technology #tech
https://apnews.com/article/blind-hear-solar-eclipse-dafc717b14115f9164befd911612aa3c
While eclipse watchers look to the skies, people who are blind or visually impaired will be able to hear and feel the celestial event. Devices that can translate the eclipse on sound and touch devices will be available at public gatherings on April 8 when a total solar eclipse crosses North America. An astronomer who is blind collaborated with a Harvard astronomer to design the LightSound box, which translates changing light in the sky into differing musical notes. Another device allows users to feel the eclipse through rows of dots that move up and down.
Solar Eclipse Sonification Tool for Visually Impaired
"I want students to be able to hear the eclipse, to hear the stars."
"The LightSound device is the result of a collaboration between Wanda Díaz-Merced, an astronomer who is blind, and Harvard astronomer Allyson Bieryla."
https://fortune.com/2024/04/05/total-solar-eclipse-blind-visually-impaired-experience/
#eclipse #eclipseday #lightsound #visuallyimpaired #impaired #blind #astronomy #sonification #fortune
“Eclipses are very beautiful things, and everyone should be able to experience it once in their lifetime,” says Yuki Hatch, a space enthusiast who hopes to become a computer scientist for NASA.
Catherine McCarthy
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