Feel the music with innovative devices

Students from the University of Tsukuba assemble SOUND HUGs by putting vibratory apparatus and LED lights inside the devices in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, on April 5. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Ball-like objects placed on people's laps light up and vibrate to music. The objects become brighter as the sound gets louder, and glow blue from high tones. They beat out a rhythm with the intensity and speed of their vibrations. This is the SOUND HUG device, developed to enable people with hearing impairments to feel music with their bodies.

SOUND HUG was developed by Associate Prof. Yoichi Ochiai of the University of Tsukuba. When the 30-year-old academic was doing research on new ways of enjoying music through sight and touch, he was asked to help people with hearing impairments to enjoy music.

Ochiai set out to create the device last autumn with the objective of introducing it at a concert. A test run was held in Suginami Kokaido hall in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, on April 5. Participants with hearing impairments gave him feedback: "It's hard to feel the high tones," one participant said, while another said, "I'd like it to have more of a variety of vibrations."

Audience members put the SOUND HUG device on their knees to feel music during the concert titled "Mimi de Kikanai Ongakukai" (Concert without using ears) in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on April 22. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

After making improvements through trial and error, the device was formally introduced at a concert titled "Mimi de Kikanai Ongakukai" (Concert without using ears) performed by the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on April 22.

The low, rich sounds of cellos were expressed through vibrations that resonate in the stomach, while high sounds that violins produced were represented by wiggling and rhythmical vibrations.

"I could feel the sounds through my body for the first time. It was interesting that I could recognize the difference between musical instruments," said Hiromi Nishimura, a 54-year-old homemaker from Konosu, Saitama Prefecture.

Yoichi Ochiai, right, adjusts the system for SOUND HUG during a concert rehearsal to represent sounds of musical instruments through the device in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, on April 5. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Another innovative device used by the audience at the concert was Ontenna. The hairpin-shaped device -- which is put in people's hair -- was developed by Fujitsu Ltd. It conveys sounds through vibrations and light, allowing users to feel not only music but also to notice approaching vehicles and ringing phones.

"I wanted to make a fashionable device that people can use just like an accessory," said developer Tatsuya Honda, 27.

More devices that assist the hearing impaired through lights and vibrations are expected to be developed. "My goal is to let people use such devices whenever they want," Ochiai said. "I hope more people will be able to enjoy music through the use of simple systems."

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