From Tom Cruise to time travel: colour-blind ‘cyborg’ artist who hears colours through implant invents time-sensing device
- Neil Harbisson, who is colour blind, has an implanted antenna that vibrates according to the colours it senses - he ‘hears’ them through bone conduction
- The artist, who has met and painted celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise, has also developed a device that senses the passing of time
For Neil Harbisson, a self-described “cyborg” artist living near Barcelona, Spain, colour is quite literally music to his ears thanks to an antenna he designed to overcome colour blindness.
Well-known in Spain and with an international following that enabled him to meet the likes of actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise, Harbisson is now testing out a new device designed to feel the passing of time.
Born in Northern Ireland with achromatopsia, a rare condition meaning he can only see in greyscale, Harbisson moved to Barcelona as a child and grew up obsessed with colour and things he couldn’t sense.
It was an obsession that saw the now 39-year-old Briton eventually go under the surgeon’s knife to transform his identity and his life.
While at music college in England, he developed the slim metal rod that arches over his head and vibrates according to colours it detects.