It's a pity that deaf people or those who have hearing problems can't enjoy music. Now a vibrating suit brings them hope—it can allow them to "feel" music through their skin, rather than hear it.
Designed by the US technology company Not Impossible Labs, the suit consists of a body harness, ankle and wrist straps.
Music is sent to the suit wirelessly. Then the suit is able to translate it into a range of vibrating pulses, which can be felt at a total of 24 contact points all over the body. The users can adjust the intensity of the vibrations.
Chase Burton, 33, a deaf filmmaker from Texas, has been testing out the suit for four years. He understands that a deaf person's experience with music is very different. "When I was a kid, I'd sit on the floor above our garage so I could feel the vibrations from my brother's band rocking out below my body
Now when he wears the vibrating suit, he says the sound hits different parts of his body. "Maybe it will strike me down in my ankles first. And then I'll start to feel the vibrations in my back. And then I'll feel some pulsations in my wrist," Burton said.
The designers have been working on extending the tactile musical experience to a larger deaf community. In 2016, a dozen prototype suits were tested at Lady Gaga's concert in the US. The suit was also tested at a special concert in Las Vegas in 2018. It was given to 150 audience members at the concert, where half the audience members were deaf and half could hear.
At the same time, the company has been improving the technology, saying it's ready to go to market soon. The suit may be used in live sports broadcasts
"We truly think that anything that has an audio element can also have a vibrational experience associated with it as well," the company's talent and business development director, Jordan Richardson said.
