Blind Student ‘Sees’ With Music
Victor Wong had a dilemma. In order to continue his graduate studies at Cornell, he had to read colored weather maps of the upper atmosphere as part of his research.
You see, Wong is blind.
Imagine you can’t see. Then, suddenly, your world changes because you found a way to ‘see’ with music. This is an amazing story about a blind Chinese student from Hong Kong studying at Cornell University who did just that.
Unless Victor could explore all of the tiny fluctuations in color he wouldn’t be able to create mathematical models of ‘space weather’.
He tried a lot of solutions. Fellow students described the maps to him. They even tried to print them in Braille.
Nothing worked.
Then Wong had the idea to translate each color into music. He collaborated with a computer graphics specialist and another student. They developed software that turns colors into musical notes.
‘The images have three dimensions and I had to find a way of reading them myself,’ Mr Wong told BBC News.
‘For the sake of my own study - and for the sake of blind scientists generally - I felt it would be good to develop software that could help us to read color images.’
To test his invention, he explored the photograph of a parrot. Wong first got an exact reference to the screen by using a pen and tablet device.
Then the music began to play. Here’s what he heard.
One of 88 notes on the piano is assigned to each colored pixel. They range from blue on the lowest end of the scale to red on the highest. By hearing how the notes progress, Wong ‘sees’ the corresponding color changes.
‘As the notes increase in pitch I know the color's getting redder and redder, and in my mind's eye a patch of red appears.’ The result – he can now read weather maps.
Hearing in color is nothing new. Many musicians and composers have the ability.
But this is different.
Giving a blind person the ability to ‘see with music’ is an extraordinary union of light and sound. ‘Seeing’ pictures by hearing notes on the piano is, well - creating magic in the best sense of the word.
What about the rest of us who aren’t blind. Everybody can create powerful imaginary pictures in their mind while listening to great music. Pairing positive imagery with music is a sure way to create a great future for yourself.
The fact is, music will always take you on a journey. So you want your journey to be a good one.
You can be assured of a great journey when you listen to any of the 5 CDs in the The Secret Power of Words and Music package. It’ll feel like you went from monochrome to colorful splendor - Instantly.
Go and experience the difference yourself.
Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French
P.S. People invest in the stock market. They put aside money for the future. But many forget to invest in feeling enriched Now. Here is one of the soundest investments you can make in your immediate AND long-range futures. You’ll never underestimate the power of sound again!
You see, Wong is blind.
Imagine you can’t see. Then, suddenly, your world changes because you found a way to ‘see’ with music. This is an amazing story about a blind Chinese student from Hong Kong studying at Cornell University who did just that.
Unless Victor could explore all of the tiny fluctuations in color he wouldn’t be able to create mathematical models of ‘space weather’.
He tried a lot of solutions. Fellow students described the maps to him. They even tried to print them in Braille.
Nothing worked.
Then Wong had the idea to translate each color into music. He collaborated with a computer graphics specialist and another student. They developed software that turns colors into musical notes.
‘The images have three dimensions and I had to find a way of reading them myself,’ Mr Wong told BBC News.
‘For the sake of my own study - and for the sake of blind scientists generally - I felt it would be good to develop software that could help us to read color images.’
To test his invention, he explored the photograph of a parrot. Wong first got an exact reference to the screen by using a pen and tablet device.
Then the music began to play. Here’s what he heard.
One of 88 notes on the piano is assigned to each colored pixel. They range from blue on the lowest end of the scale to red on the highest. By hearing how the notes progress, Wong ‘sees’ the corresponding color changes.
‘As the notes increase in pitch I know the color's getting redder and redder, and in my mind's eye a patch of red appears.’ The result – he can now read weather maps.
Hearing in color is nothing new. Many musicians and composers have the ability.
But this is different.
Giving a blind person the ability to ‘see with music’ is an extraordinary union of light and sound. ‘Seeing’ pictures by hearing notes on the piano is, well - creating magic in the best sense of the word.
What about the rest of us who aren’t blind. Everybody can create powerful imaginary pictures in their mind while listening to great music. Pairing positive imagery with music is a sure way to create a great future for yourself.
The fact is, music will always take you on a journey. So you want your journey to be a good one.
You can be assured of a great journey when you listen to any of the 5 CDs in the The Secret Power of Words and Music package. It’ll feel like you went from monochrome to colorful splendor - Instantly.
Go and experience the difference yourself.
Warm Regards,
Tania Gabrielle French
P.S. People invest in the stock market. They put aside money for the future. But many forget to invest in feeling enriched Now. Here is one of the soundest investments you can make in your immediate AND long-range futures. You’ll never underestimate the power of sound again!
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