Author: Steve Silberman
Link: http://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/2012/02/06/inside-the-mind-of-a-synaesthete/
Synesthesia is a neurological condition where sounds seem to have colors. Having never experienced it, I’m not entirely sure how to describe it but I find the idea fascinating. The article talked about Nabokov and his wife (both synaesthetes) who saw the same letter as a different color, and their son, who saw it as a combination of both. It moved onto synaesthetic painters and musicians and ended with an interview; multimedia artist/writer Perry Hall created an iPhone/iPad application called Sonifed that allows people to experience what a synaesthete might.
I find synesthesia to be fascinating and wish I could see what it is for myself. I don’t think it would necessarily make for a better work but it could give it an interesting spin. It’s not directly related to physical computing but it’s a reminder to think outside the box, I suppose.
Possible sketches/projects:
- Color light that responds to music tempo
