Seeing Sounds and Hearing Colors

somberlain writes "BBC has an interesting article about people who hear colours and see sounds. Luckily I don't have this medical condition: but which sounds do you want to colorize?" This is an old story, but just reading the woman's descriptions of her condition make it worth linking.

Comments

It's called synaesthesia....

[crucible]

and can also be chemically induced by the consumption of LSD.

Great...

[ConceptJunkie]

Now Ted Turner will want to go around colorizing old Benny Goodman records.

I wish I had this condition

[spudwiser]

I could save thousands on drugs. When you start hearing code and seeing machine cycles, though, it's time to slow down.

Re:Color "Signature"?

[Catskul]

The color sensations come from synaptic links in the brain. The colors are not intrasinct with the actual sound (or concepts), but made up by our brain based on our experience or innate wireing.

"I'm wondering if each person has a unique color 'signature' If so, could a scanner be developed that sees these signatures and identify people from a distance? "

Any kind of "scanner" doesnt really make sense in this context. Also, the woman can see sounds, and the sound of each pesons name has a color and/or image. So, even on top of the sensations relying on a human brain, its based on sound, so your "scanner" would have to be listening; and listening to what ? voices ? they already have sofware that identifies people by voices.

Incidently when developling software to recognize sounds or voices, the sound is normaly converted into an image before being identified. Here is an image of a voice print

I have this

[Twirlip of the Mists]

I have this condition, but in what I guess is a more mild form. I don't associate sounds with colors-- UNTIL NOW!-- but I do associate words and letters with colors and... um... tastes, kind of.

I guess it started in the first grade or so, when I was learning to read. The letter "A" (capital A, that is) has always been sort of a bright red color, and smelled and tasted sweet, like cherry-flavored candy. "B" is purpley-blue, and chewy. "C" is lemony yellow. And so on. When I visualize any of those letters in my head, the color and the texture, or taste, or smell come along with them. It's hard to explain, I guess, if you don't know what I'm talking about.

When I was growing up, I just assumed everybody was like this. I turn 30 next month, and it was only earlier this year that I learned that I was different from most people. I was talking about our new house with my girlfriend, and I said something like, "Let's paint that room blue... sort of an 'M' blue." She had no f*cking idea what I was talking about, and that's how I learned that I was unusual in this way.

Since then I've kinda been reading up on synaesthesia a little bit in my spare time. Funny coincidence that this should come up on Slashdot at about the same time.

Further Reading

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

I recommend The Man Who Tasted Shapes for a readable and interesting account of synesthesia.