Join Group
I saw it. If I remember right, there is a small community of people, all blind I think, who echo-locate.
Similar to seeing but I don't think it's exactly "seeing" sound.
I would say that if you are echo-locating and building a map of your environment in your visual cortex then you are seeing.
Full disclaimer: I have worked in artificial vision for 24 years off and on, mostly on.
Autistic people have said for some time that they can "see music." Some also say that numbers have visible colors ... if we say a number they see a color. There was recent attention on this by a savant who, apparently without usual autistic social limitations, wrote a book about this called "Born on Blue Day."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6860157
Interesting stuff.
This is the reverse of a weird impulse I have had since I was a kid; "I can't hear you, let me get my glasses." I got glasses when I was about 13, and needed them until about two years ago, when I got Lasik. I always figured I was doing some simple lip-reading...but I really did hear better with my glasses on.
Autistic people have said for some time that they can "see music." Some also say that numbers have visible colors ... if we say a number they see a color. There was recent attention on this by a savant who, apparently without usual autistic social limitations, wrote a book about this called "Born on Blue Day."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6860157
Interesting stuff.
Yeah I'd heard about the autistic kids somewhere before. It's fascinating and I think it's probably more similar to synesthesia where people report tasting or hearing colors. Interesting stuff.
Thank you GG, I couldn't think of the word :-)
I think of "seeing with sound" as something more akin to synesthesia than these people do.
In their case, it is difficult to view echolocation as one sense being triggered through a different sense. They build a mental map. But the map doesn't include color, nuances such as artistic details, and many other things sight does provide.
For example, echo may tell you you're about to walk into a table. But it doesn;t tell you if the corners are rounded or sharp - i.e. if it will hurt or not.
As a 1st year architecture student I "painted" the smell of a rose. Got a B.
Asked why I did not get an A, the prof. said I needed to get my eyes checked.
I told him I did not "smell" with my eyes. He gave me a B plus.
This is an interesting phenomenon and when I can think of something serious to say, will contribute. Thanx for thread Dutch.
