"Speakers" for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

A few days ago in Toronto, there was a concert held for the deaf and hard of hearing. No, not a benefit concert: This was a concert held specifically tailored to the deaf and hard of hearing, for THEIR enjoyment.

It was a concert which utilized the Emoti-Chair, a chair developed by researchers at Ryerson University. I've talked about the concept of deaf people "hearing" and enjoying music before, and this is essentially taking that and making it accessible.

If you recall, the difficulty with detecting sound by touch is that the lower frequencies are much more prevalent. The higher frequencies require training, and even then, the lower frequencies tends to drown out the other vibrations.

What this chair does is give each frequency prominence. By taking a piece of music and dividing the frequencies apart, the chair mimics the workings of the human cochlea (the inner ear that picks up sound waves). Each frequency is then given a separate rumbling motor in different sections on the back, thus using your whole back as a substitute for the inner ear membrane.



In fact, after repeated usage, people have claimed to recognize different genres, instruments, and whether or not there are vocals! Fascinating stuff.

To learn more about this, start here. To see this chair, watch the video below. I highly suggest hearing the testimonials that starts a couple minutes in: