Visual experiences in the blind induced by an auditory sensory substitution device.
Jamie Ward, Peter Meijer
Consciousness and Cognition December 1, 2009 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2009.10.006 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 2 |
| Population | Two blind users of a sensory substitution device |
| Keywords | Brain Visual cortex Humans Blindness Acoustic stimulation Sensory aids Cognition Imagination Auditory perception Sensory deprivation Visual perception Neuronal plasticity Visual acuity Software design Middle aged Female Functional laterality Touch perception |
| Key findings | Two blind users of "The vOICe" reported detailed visual phenomenology that developed within months of immersive use and evolved over years. The authors argue this experience likely draws on both online visualization of the auditory signal and the users' prior, distant experience of veridical vision, and that the mapping may persist without the device, possibly constituting acquired synaesthesia. |
Abstract
In this report, the phenomenology of two blind users of a sensory substitution device - "The vOICe" - that converts visual images to auditory signals is described. The users both report detailed visual phenomenology that developed within months of immersive use and has continued to evolve over a period of years. This visual phenomenology, although triggered through use of The vOICe, is likely to depend not only on online visualization of the auditory signal but also on the users' previous (albeit distant) experience of veridical vision (e.g. knowledge of shapes and visual perspective). Once established, the sensory substitution mapping between the auditory and visual domains is not confined to when the device is worn and, thus, may constitute an example of acquired synaesthesia.
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- The Enactive Torch: A New Tool for the Science of Perception IEEE Transactions on Haptics October 27, 2011
- Synesthetic hallucinations induced by psychedelic drugs in a congenitally blind man. Consciousness and Cognition April 1, 2018
- Coordinated neural, behavioral, and phenomenological changes in perceptual plasticity through overtraining of synesthetic associations. Neuropsychologia March 2018
- Recruitment of occipital cortex during sensory substitution training linked to subjective experience of seeing in people with blindness. PLoS One June 14, 2016
- Learning New Sensorimotor Contingencies: Effects of Long-Term Use of Sensory Augmentation on the Brain and Conscious Perception. PLoS One 2016
Cites 3
- Acquired auditory-visual synesthesia: A window to early cross-modal sensory interactions Psychology Research and Behavior Management January 15, 2009
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the visual cortex induces somatotopically organized qualia in blind subjects. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America August 17, 2006
- How are qualia coupled to functions? Trends in Cognitive Sciences May 1, 2003