'I'm a human cyborg - I can hear colour'

Neil Harbisson:

I had cables coming out of my head at first, snaking down into a big backpack with a laptop. It made people a bit uncomfortable. But now the eyeborg translates colour into sound using a chip at the back of my skull. It makes noise by pressing against my head, but from September it will be inserted into the bone. I have to recharge myself at a power socket, but I'm working on ways to use my blood circulation instead.

Thanks to the eyeborg, I've made a career by combining music and art. I do concerts where I plug myself into a set of speakers and play the colours of the audience back to them. The good thing is, if it sounds bad, it's their fault! I also make sound portraits of individuals. Prince Charles sounds surprisingly similar to Nicole Kidman.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 19, 2012 4:30 AM
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