Watch Artist Neil Harbisson – What Does Color Sound Like?

Artist Neil Harbisson was born completely color blind.  “To me, the sky is always gray, flowers are always gray, and television is still in black and white.”  But these days a device attached to his head turns color into audible frequencies.  Instead of seeing a world in grayscale, Harbisson can hear a symphony of color — and yes, even listen to faces and paintings.  Now even the way Neil dresses is affected by this device.  “Today I’m dressed in C major, so it’s quite a happy chord.  If I had to go to a funeral, though, I would dress in B minor, which would be turquoise, purple and orange.” Hear his story in this TED talk, “I Listen to Color.”

Harbisson speaks for his ability to now paint music, but you can also imagine what this new device could mean for a musician.  Many interesting songs could be written with this new device.  What would a purple and green song sound like?  Or a tie-dyed song?  There are a lot of fun artistic implications.

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