Neil Harbisson: The first person in the world to 'hear' colours
Instead of seeing colour, Neil Harbisson can hear colour. Harbisson, who was born colourblind, is best known for being the first person in the world with an antenna implanted in his skull. Harbisson describes himself as someone who can "hear" colour. Rian van Heerden spoke to the Spanish-born British-Irish cyborg.
Neil Harbisson was born with a condition called achromatopsia, which is total colour blindness.
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Harbisson has never seen colour and he doesn't know what colours look like.
For Harbisson, everything is grey. The sun, the sky, the trees, the world for him is grey.
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But since the age of 21, Harbisson can hear colour.
These days a device attached to his head turns colour into audible frequencies. Instead of seeing a world in grayscale, Harbisson can hear a symphony of colour - and yes, even listen to faces and paintings.
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The audible frequencies are sent to a chip installed in the back of his head which allows him to hear colour through bone conduction.
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Image Credit: Supplied/ Neil Harbisson