ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Neil Harbisson - Sonochromatic Cyborg Artist
Neil Harbisson's "eyeborg" allows him to hear colors, even those beyond the range of sight.

Why you should listen

Born with the inability to see color, Neil Harbisson wears a prosthetic device — he calls it an "eyeborg" — that allows him to hear the spectrum, even those colors beyond the range of human sight. His unique experience of color informs his artwork — which, until he met cyberneticist Adam Montandon at a college lecture, was strictly black-and-white. By working with Montandon, and later with Peter Kese, Harbisson helped design a lightweight eyepiece that he wears on his forehead that transposes the light frequencies of color hues into sound frequencies.

Harbisson's artwork blurs the boundaries between sight and sound. In his Sound Portraits series, he listens to the colors of faces to create a microtonal chord. In the City Colours project, he expresses the capital cities of Europe in two colors (Monaco is azure and salmon pink; Bratislava yellow and turquoise).

More profile about the speaker
Neil Harbisson | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2012

Neil Harbisson: I listen to color

Neil Harbisson:听声

Filmed:
2,994,716 views

Artist Neil Harbisson从一出生起就是全色盲,但现在,他的大脑里安装了一个设备,可以将颜色转变成听得到的频率。虽然他看到的世界依然是灰暗的,但他能够“听”到由颜色组成的交响曲合奏--没错,他甚至能听到人们的脸和绘画。
- Sonochromatic Cyborg Artist
Neil Harbisson's "eyeborg" allows him to hear colors, even those beyond the range of sight. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
Well, I was born天生 with a rare罕见 visual视觉 condition条件
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我出生在一个色彩极少的世界
00:20
called achromatopsia色盲, which哪一个 is total color颜色 blindness失明,
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世界只有明暗之分,这叫做全色盲
00:23
so I've never seen看到 color颜色,
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所以我不知道什么是颜色,
00:25
and I don't know what color颜色 looks容貌 like,
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也不知道颜色是什么样的,
00:28
because I come from a grayscale灰阶 world世界.
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因为我来自一个灰色的国度。
00:31
To me, the sky天空 is always gray灰色,
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对我来说,天空永远是暗灰的,
00:33
flowers花卉 are always gray灰色,
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花儿也是暗灰的,
00:35
and television电视 is still in black黑色 and white白色.
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电视依然是黑白电视。
00:37
But, since以来 the age年龄 of 21,
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但是,当我21岁时,
00:40
instead代替 of seeing眼看 color颜色, I can hear color颜色.
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虽然看不见颜色,但我能听见颜色。
00:44
In 2003, I started开始 a project项目
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在2003年,我开始了一项计划
00:47
with computer电脑 scientist科学家 Adam亚当 Montandon蒙坦,
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和一位叫Adam Montandon的计算机科学家合作,
00:49
and the result结果, with further进一步 collaborations合作
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在其他人的合作帮助下,
00:53
with Peter彼得 KeseKese from Slovenia斯洛文尼亚
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例如来自斯洛文尼亚的Peter Kese
00:55
and Matias马蒂亚斯 LizanaLizana from Barcelona巴塞罗那,
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和来自巴塞罗那的Matias Lizana,
00:58
is this electronic电子 eye.
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我们的成果就是这个电子眼。
01:00
It's a color颜色 sensor传感器 that detects检测
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它是一个色彩传感器,
01:02
the color颜色 frequency频率 in front面前 of me — (Frequency频率 sounds声音) —
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它可以探测到我眼前颜色的频率——(频率的声音)
01:06
and sends发送 this frequency频率 to a chip芯片 installed安装
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然后把这个频率传回植入我后脑里的
01:08
at the back of my head, and I hear the color颜色 in front面前 of me
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一个芯片里,这样通过骨头传导声音
01:11
through通过 the bone, through通过 bone conduction传导.
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我就能听到我眼前的颜色了。
01:14
(Frequency频率 sounds声音) So, for example, if I have, like —
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(频率的声音)举个例子吧,我拿出这个
01:21
This is the sound声音 of purple紫色. (Frequency频率 sounds声音)
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这个就是紫色的声音。(频率的声音)
01:24
For example, this is the sound声音 of grass. (Frequency频率 sounds声音)
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又例如,这个是草地颜色的声音。(频率的声音)
01:32
This is red, like TEDTED. (Frequency频率 sounds声音)
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这个是红色的,就像TED的颜色。(频率的声音)
01:34
This is the sound声音 of a dirty sock袜子. (Laughter笑声)
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这个是脏袜子的声音。(笑声)
01:38
Which哪一个 is like yellow黄色, this one.
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脏袜子是黄色的。
01:40
So I've been hearing听力 color颜色 all the time for eight years年份,
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所以,自2004年起,我已经持续听了8年的颜色,
01:44
since以来 2004, so I find it completely全然 normal正常 now
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现在这些持续不断的声音
01:47
to hear color颜色 all the time.
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对我来说已经习以为常了。
01:49
At the start开始, though虽然, I had to memorize记忆 the names you give
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一开始我不仅需要记住你们为不同色彩所命的名字
01:53
for each color颜色, so I had to memorize记忆 the notes笔记,
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我还要去记住这些调子,
01:56
but after some time, all this information信息
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不过过了一段时间,所有的这些信息,
01:58
became成为 a perception知觉.
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都变成了一种知觉。
02:00
I didn't have to think about the notes笔记.
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对这些调子已经不需多加思索。
02:02
And after some time, this perception知觉 became成为 a feeling感觉.
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再过一段时间,这种知觉就变成了一种感觉。
02:04
I started开始 to have favorite喜爱 colors颜色,
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我开始有了喜欢的颜色,
02:06
and I started开始 to dream梦想 in colors颜色.
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我的梦里也开始有了色彩。
02:08
So, when I started开始 to dream梦想 in color颜色 is when I felt
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所以,当我有了彩色的梦时,
02:12
that the software软件 and my brain had united联合的,
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我知道这个软件已经和我大脑合为一体了,
02:15
because in my dreams, it was my brain creating创建
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因为在梦里,是我的大脑
02:18
electronic电子 sounds声音. It wasn't the software软件,
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在制造电子声音,而非这个软件,
02:20
so that's when I started开始 to feel like a cyborg半机械人.
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此时我觉得自己像个半机械人。
02:24
It's when I started开始 to feel that the cybernetic控制论 device设备
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我开始意识到这个神经控制装置
02:27
was no longer a device设备.
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不再仅是一个电子装置。
02:29
It had become成为 a part部分 of my body身体,
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它已经成为我身体的一部分,
02:32
an extension延期 of my senses感官,
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我知觉的一种延伸,
02:34
and after some time, it even became成为 a part部分
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不久之后,它甚至成了我官方形象
02:37
of my official官方 image图片.
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不可分割的一部分。
02:40
This is my passport护照 from 2004.
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这是我2004年的护照。
02:43
You're not allowed允许 to appear出现 on U.K. passports护照
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在英国的护照相片上,
02:46
with electronic电子 equipment设备, but I insisted坚持
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你是不能戴任何电子装备的,但我坚持
02:48
to the passport护照 office办公室 that what they were seeing眼看
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跟护照处的人说,你们看到的
02:51
was actually其实 a new part部分 of my body身体,
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其实是我身体新的一部分,
02:53
an extension延期 of my brain, and they finally最后 accepted公认 me
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是我大脑的延伸,最后他们同意了
02:57
to appear出现 with the passport护照 photo照片.
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让我以这样的形象出现在护照上。
02:59
So, life has changed dramatically显着 since以来 I hear color颜色,
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所以自从我能听见颜色,我的生活发生了翻天覆地的变化
03:03
because color颜色 is almost几乎 everywhere到处,
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因为颜色无处不在,
03:05
so the biggest最大 change更改 for example is
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最大的改变就是
03:08
going to an art艺术 gallery画廊, I can listen to a Picasso毕加索,
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去艺术画廊,例如,我能听到毕加索了。
03:13
for example. So it's like I'm going to a concert音乐会 hall大厅,
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这感觉就像去音乐厅,
03:16
because I can listen to the paintings绘画.
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因为我能到听到那些绘画作品。
03:18
And supermarkets超级市场, I find this is very shocking触目惊心,
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还有超市,这真心让我惊讶,
03:20
it's very, very attractive有吸引力 to walk步行 along沿 a supermarket超级市场.
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在超市里漫步真的非常,非常吸引人。
03:23
It's like going to a nightclub夜店.
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就像去泡夜吧一样。
03:25
It's full充分 of different不同 melodies旋律. (Laughter笑声) Yeah.
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耳边总响起不同的旋律。(笑声)是这样的。
03:28
Especially特别 the aisle走道 with cleaning清洁的 products制品.
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尤其是那条卖清洁用品的过道。
03:30
It's just fabulous极好. (Laughter笑声)
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真是太神奇了。(笑声)
03:33
Also, the way I dress连衣裙 has changed.
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而且,我穿着的方式也变了。
03:36
Before, I used to dress连衣裙 in a way that it looked看着 good.
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以前,我只穿看起来还行的。
03:38
Now I dress连衣裙 in a way that it sounds声音 good. (Laughter笑声)
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现在我会穿听起来悦耳的。(笑声)
03:43
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
03:48
So today今天 I'm dressed连衣裙的 in C major重大的,
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今天我的穿着基于C大调,
03:51
so it's quite相当 a happy快乐 chord. (Laughter笑声)
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这是个愉快的和弦。(笑声)
03:54
If I had to go to a funeral葬礼, though虽然,
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如果我需要去参加一个葬礼,
03:56
I would dress连衣裙 in B minor次要, which哪一个 would be
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那么我会穿B小调的衣服,
03:58
turquoise绿松石, purple紫色 and orange橙子. (Laughter笑声)
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也就是蓝绿色的,紫色和还有橙色。(笑声)
04:07
Also, food餐饮, the way I look at food餐饮 has changed,
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还有,食物,我看待食物的方式也变了,
04:11
because now I can display显示 the food餐饮 on a plate盘子,
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因为现在我能把食物组合好放在盘子里,
04:15
so I can eat my favorite喜爱 song歌曲. (Laughter笑声)
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然后我就可以把我喜欢的音乐吃掉。(笑声)
04:18
So depending根据 on how I display显示 it,
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这取决于我怎么排列我的食物,
04:19
I can hear and I can compose撰写 music音乐 with food餐饮.
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我能听见食物也能和食物一起作曲了。
04:22
So imagine想像 a restaurant餐厅 where we can have, like,
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设想一下有这么一家餐厅,
04:25
Lady淑女 Gaga加加 salads沙拉 as starters首发. (Laughter笑声) I mean,
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供应Lady Gaga沙拉作为开胃菜。(笑声)我想,
04:28
this would get teenagers青少年 to eat their vegetables蔬菜, probably大概.
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这样可能会鼓舞一些年轻人多吃蔬菜,也许吧。
04:31
And also, some Rachmaninov拉赫玛尼诺夫 piano钢琴 concertos协奏曲
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还有,餐厅供应拉赫玛尼诺夫钢琴协奏曲
04:34
as main主要 dishes碗碟, and some Bjork比约克 or Madonna麦当娜 desserts甜点,
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作为主菜,还有Björk乐队或麦当娜甜点,
04:37
that would be a very exciting扣人心弦 restaurant餐厅
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那这家餐厅一定很赞
04:40
where you can actually其实 eat songs歌曲.
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你都能在那里吃音乐了。
04:43
Also, the way I perceive感知 beauty美女 has changed,
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还有,我对美的感知也产生变化了,
04:48
because when I look at someone有人, I hear their face面对,
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因为当我看一个人时,我能听到他的脸,
04:52
so someone有人 might威力 look very beautiful美丽 but sound声音 terrible可怕.
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所以可能有人看起来很美但听起来却很恐怖。
04:57
(Laughter笑声) And it might威力 happen发生 the opposite对面,
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(笑声)相反的情况也可能发生,
04:59
the other way around. So I really enjoy请享用 creating创建, like,
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看起来恐怖听起来悦耳。所以我很享受
05:01
sound声音 portraits画像 of people.
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创造人的“声画像”,
05:03
Instead代替 of drawing画画 someone's谁家 face面对, like drawing画画 the shape形状,
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而不是画出他的样子,画出他的轮廓。
05:07
I point at them with the eye and I write down
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我用一只眼看着他们,同时写下
05:09
the different不同 notes笔记 I hear, and then I create创建 sound声音 portraits画像.
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我听到的不同音符,然后创出“声画像“。
05:12
Here's这里的 some faces面孔.
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这些是他们的脸。
05:14
(Musical音乐 chords和弦)
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(音乐和声)
05:29
Yeah, Nicole妮可 Kidman基德曼 sounds声音 good. (Laughter笑声)
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嗯,妮可基德曼听起来还不错。(笑声)
05:32
Some people, I would never relate涉及, but they sound声音 similar类似.
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有些听起来相似的人脸,我之前怎样也无法关联起来。
05:35
Prince王子 Charles查尔斯 has some similarities相似之处 with Nicole妮可 Kidman基德曼.
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查尔斯王子和妮可基德曼就有相似之处。
05:38
They have similar类似 sound声音 of eyes眼睛.
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他们的眼睛听起来很像。
05:40
So you relate涉及 people that you wouldn't不会 relate涉及,
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当你将一些毫无相关的人联系起来时,
05:42
and you can actually其实 also create创建 concerts音乐会
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你事实上就能够举办一场音乐会了
05:46
by looking at the audience听众 faces面孔.
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单单看观众的脸就够了。
05:48
So I connect the eye, and then I play the audience's观众的 faces面孔.
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连接上电子眼,我就能演奏观众的脸了。
05:51
The good thing about this is,
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这么做的好处是
05:53
if the concert音乐会 doesn't sound声音 good, it's their fault故障.
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如果音乐会听起来不怎样,那是他们问题。
05:56
It's not my fault故障, because — (Laughter笑声)
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这不是我的错,原因你知道的——(笑声)
05:58
And so another另一个 thing that happens发生 is that
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另外还有一件事就是
06:02
I started开始 having this secondary次要 effect影响
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我开始体会到一些副作用了
06:05
that normal正常 sounds声音 started开始 to become成为 color颜色.
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那些平凡的声音开始变成颜色了。
06:09
I heard听说 a telephone电话 tone, and it felt green绿色
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我听到电话铃声,我就感觉它是绿色的
06:12
because it sounded满面 just like the color颜色 green绿色.
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因为它和绿色的声音听起来一样。
06:15
The BBCBBC beeps蜂鸣声, they sound声音 turquoise绿松石,
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BBC的”哔“声,它们是蓝绿色的,
06:18
and listening to Mozart莫扎特 became成为 a yellow黄色 experience经验,
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还有听莫扎特的歌成了一场黄色的体验,
06:21
so I started开始 to paint涂料 music音乐 and paint涂料 people's人们 voices声音,
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所以我开始给音乐和人们的声音上色,
06:26
because people's人们 voices声音 have frequencies频率
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因为人声也是有频率的
06:28
that I relate涉及 to color颜色.
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我可以将其与颜色关联起来。
06:29
And here's这里的 some music音乐 translated翻译 into color颜色.
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这是一些转换成颜色的音乐。
06:34
For example, Mozart莫扎特, "Queen女王 of the Night," looks容貌 like this.
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例如,莫扎特的,“夜晚的王后”,看起来就是这样。
06:40
(Music音乐) Very yellow黄色 and very colorful华美,
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(音乐)很绚黄,很多彩,
06:41
because there's many许多 different不同 frequencies频率.
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因为有很多不同的频率。
06:44
(Music音乐)
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(音乐)
06:48
And this is a completely全然 different不同 song歌曲.
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这首歌则完全不同。
06:50
(Music音乐) It's Justin贾斯汀 Bieber'sBieber的 "Baby宝宝." (Laughter笑声)
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(音乐)这是Justin Bieber的“Baby”。(笑声)
06:54
(Music音乐)
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(音乐)
06:56
It is very pink and very yellow黄色.
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很粉也很黄。
06:59
So, also voices声音, I can transform转变 speeches演讲 into color颜色,
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还有声音,我能把演讲也变成颜色,
07:06
for example, these are two very well-known知名 speeches演讲.
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例如,这是两个非常著名的演讲。
07:10
One of them is Martin马丁 Luther路德 King's国王 "I Have A Dream梦想,"
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一个是马丁路德金的“我有一个梦想”,
07:14
and the other one is Hitler希特勒.
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另外一个则是希特勒的。
07:15
And I like to exhibit展示 these paintings绘画 in the exhibition展览 halls大厅
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然后我喜欢把这两幅画放在展览厅里
07:18
without labels标签, and then I ask people,
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不贴标签,然后我问人们,
07:21
"Which哪一个 one do you prefer比较喜欢?"
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“你比较喜欢哪个?”
07:23
And most people change更改 their preference偏爱
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当我告诉他们左边那幅是希特勒时,
07:25
when I tell them that the one on the left is Hitler希特勒
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大部分人都改变了他们的选择。
07:28
and the one on the right is Martin马丁 Luther路德 King国王.
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右边那幅是马丁路德金的。
07:31
So I got to a point when I was able能够 to perceive感知 360 colors颜色,
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当我能够感知360种颜色,就像正常人的视觉一样时,
07:37
just like human人的 vision视力.
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我萌生了一个想法。
07:39
I was able能够 to differentiate区分 all the degrees of the color颜色 wheel.
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虽然我能够辨别色环里不同角度的所有的颜色。
07:42
But then, I just thought that
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然而,我觉得,
07:44
this human人的 vision视力 wasn't good enough足够.
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人类的视觉还是不足够使用。
07:47
There's many许多, many许多 more colors颜色 around us
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在我们周围还有好多好多的颜色,
07:50
that we cannot不能 perceive感知,
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我们感应不到,
07:51
but that electronic电子 eyes眼睛 can perceive感知.
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而电子眼却能做到。
07:53
So I decided决定 to continue继续 extending扩展 my color颜色 senses感官,
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所以我决定扩展我的颜色感知度,
07:57
and I added添加 infrared红外线 and I added添加 ultraviolet紫外线
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于是我在色音传感范围内
08:01
to the color-to-sound颜色 - 声音 scale规模, so now I can hear colors颜色
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加了红外线和紫外线,所以我现在能听到
08:05
that the human人的 eye cannot不能 perceive感知.
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人类肉眼无法感应到的颜色。
08:07
For example, perceiving感知 infrared红外线 is good because you can
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例如,感应红外线是挺棒的事情,
08:10
actually其实 detect检测 if there's movement运动 detectors探测器 in a room房间.
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因为如果房间里有移动探测器,那么你就能探测到了。
08:14
I can hear if someone有人 points at me with a remote远程 control控制.
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如果有人用遥控指着我,那我就能听到了。
08:18
And the good thing about perceiving感知 ultraviolet紫外线 is that
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感应紫外线的好处则是,
08:21
you can hear if it's a good day or a bad day to sunbathe晒太阳,
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你能听到说今天的天气适不适合晒日光浴,
08:26
because ultraviolet紫外线 is a dangerous危险 color颜色,
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因为紫外线还是比较危险的,
08:28
a color颜色 that can actually其实 kill us, so I think we should all have this wish希望
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它能够使人类致死的。因此我觉得人们应该想要去
08:32
to perceive感知 things that we cannot不能 perceive感知.
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感知那些我们无法感知的东西。
08:35
That's why, two years年份 ago,
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这就是为什么两年前,
08:37
I created创建 the Cyborg人造人 Foundation基础,
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我建立了半机械人基金会,
08:38
which哪一个 is a foundation基础 that tries尝试 to help people
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这个基金会旨在帮助人们
08:41
become成为 a cyborg半机械人, tries尝试 to encourage鼓励 people
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成为半机械人,鼓励人们
08:44
to extend延伸 their senses感官
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去扩展自己的知觉
08:45
by using运用 technology技术 as part部分 of the body身体.
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用科技装备自己的身体。
08:48
We should all think that knowledge知识 comes from our senses感官,
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我们都知道知识来源于我们的感知,
08:52
so if we extend延伸 our senses感官,
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所以如果我们扩展了自己的知觉,
08:54
we will consequently所以 extend延伸 our knowledge知识.
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我们也就相应地扩展了我们的知识。
08:57
I think life will be much more exciting扣人心弦
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我觉得生活将会变得更加刺激
09:00
when we stop creating创建 applications应用 for mobile移动 phones手机
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当我们不再为手机开发各种应用,
09:03
and we start开始 creating创建 applications应用 for our own拥有 body身体.
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而转为对自己的身体开发应用。
09:06
I think this will be a big, big change更改
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我想这将会是本世纪
09:08
that we will see during this century世纪.
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我们见证的一个巨大的转变。
09:10
So I do encourage鼓励 you all to think about which哪一个 senses感官
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你们不妨想一下
09:14
you'd like to extend延伸.
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你们想扩展哪些感知。
09:16
I would encourage鼓励 you to become成为 a cyborg半机械人.
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我会鼓励你们成为一个半机械人。
09:19
You won't惯于 be alone单独. Thank you. (Applause掌声)
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你不会感到孤单的。谢谢。(掌声)
09:23
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Lee Li
Reviewed by Si Xie

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Neil Harbisson - Sonochromatic Cyborg Artist
Neil Harbisson's "eyeborg" allows him to hear colors, even those beyond the range of sight.

Why you should listen

Born with the inability to see color, Neil Harbisson wears a prosthetic device — he calls it an "eyeborg" — that allows him to hear the spectrum, even those colors beyond the range of human sight. His unique experience of color informs his artwork — which, until he met cyberneticist Adam Montandon at a college lecture, was strictly black-and-white. By working with Montandon, and later with Peter Kese, Harbisson helped design a lightweight eyepiece that he wears on his forehead that transposes the light frequencies of color hues into sound frequencies.

Harbisson's artwork blurs the boundaries between sight and sound. In his Sound Portraits series, he listens to the colors of faces to create a microtonal chord. In the City Colours project, he expresses the capital cities of Europe in two colors (Monaco is azure and salmon pink; Bratislava yellow and turquoise).

More profile about the speaker
Neil Harbisson | Speaker | TED.com