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

尼爾.哈比森:我傾聽色彩

Filmed:
2,994,716 views

藝術家Neil Harbisson生來是完全色盲,但現在,一個掛在他頭上的電子裝置能把色彩轉化成相應的頻率讓他聽見。Harbisson眼見的世界是灰的,但他能聽見由色彩組成的交響樂——是的,他甚至能聽見人臉和繪畫。
- 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罕見 visual視覺 condition條件
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我出生就帶了一種罕見的視覺障礙
00:20
called achromatopsia色盲, which哪一個 is total color顏色 blindness失明,
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就是“全色盲”
00:23
so I've never seen看到 color顏色,
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我從未見過顏色
00:25
and I don't know what color顏色 looks容貌 like,
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我不知道顏色看起來是什麼樣子
00:28
because I come from a grayscale灰階 world世界.
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因為我眼見的世界都是灰色
00:31
To me, the sky天空 is always gray灰色,
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對我來說,天空總是灰色的
00:33
flowers花卉 are always gray灰色,
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鮮花總是灰色的
00:35
and television電視 is still in black黑色 and white白色.
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電視還停留在黑白時期
00:37
But, since以來 the age年齡 of 21,
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不過,從21歲開始
00:40
instead代替 of seeing眼看 color顏色, I can hear color顏色.
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雖還是無法看到顏色,我卻能聽到顏色
00:44
In 2003, I started開始 a project項目
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我從2003年開始了一個專案
00:47
with computer電腦 scientist科學家 Adam亞當 Montandon蒙坦,
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與電腦科學家Adam Montandon合作
00:49
and the result結果, with further進一步 collaborations合作
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也因此更進一步
00:53
with Peter彼得 KeseKese from Slovenia斯洛文尼亞
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與斯洛維尼亞的Peter Kese
00:55
and Matias馬蒂亞斯 LizanaLizana from Barcelona巴塞羅那,
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以及巴賽隆納的Matias Lizana合作
00:58
is this electronic電子 eye.
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完成了這個電子眼
01:00
It's a color顏色 sensor傳感器 that detects檢測
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這是一個色彩感應器
01:02
the color顏色 frequency頻率 in front面前 of me — (Frequency頻率 sounds聲音) —
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探測我面前的顏色頻率
(頻率音)
01:06
and sends發送 this frequency頻率 to a chip芯片 installed安裝
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然後將這個頻率
01:08
at the back of my head, and I hear the color顏色 in front面前 of me
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傳送到頭後方安裝的晶片裡
01:11
through通過 the bone, through通過 bone conduction傳導.
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然後通過骨傳導聽見這個色彩的頻率
01:14
(Frequency頻率 sounds聲音) So, for example, if I have, like —
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(頻率音)
比如說,這個
01:21
This is the sound聲音 of purple紫色. (Frequency頻率 sounds聲音)
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是紫色的聲音
(頻率音)
01:24
For example, this is the sound聲音 of grass. (Frequency頻率 sounds聲音)
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再比如,這是草的聲音
(頻率音)
01:32
This is red, like TEDTED. (Frequency頻率 sounds聲音)
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這是紅色,像TED一樣(頻率音)
01:34
This is the sound聲音 of a dirty sock襪子. (Laughter笑聲)
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這是髒襪子的聲音(笑聲)
01:38
Which哪一個 is like yellow黃色, this one.
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這個就像是黃色
01:40
So I've been hearing聽力 color顏色 all the time for eight years年份,
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我在過去8年時間裡不斷地聽見色彩
01:44
since以來 2004, so I find it completely全然 normal正常 now
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從2004年到現在,所以我已非常習慣
01:47
to hear color顏色 all the time.
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無時無刻聽見各種色彩
01:49
At the start開始, though雖然, I had to memorize記憶 the names you give
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一開始,我必須去記住各種顏色的名稱
01:53
for each color顏色, so I had to memorize記憶 the notes筆記,
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記住各種音高
01:56
but after some time, all this information信息
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但一段時間之後,所有這些資訊
01:58
became成為 a perception知覺.
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變成了一種感知
02:00
I didn't have to think about the notes筆記.
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我不必刻意去想這是什麼音高
02:02
And after some time, this perception知覺 became成為 a feeling感覺.
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又過了一段時間,這種感知變成了一種感覺
02:04
I started開始 to have favorite喜愛 colors顏色,
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我有了自己最喜歡的顏色
02:06
and I started開始 to dream夢想 in colors顏色.
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我開始做有顏色的夢
02:08
So, when I started開始 to dream夢想 in color顏色 is when I felt
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當我開始做有顏色的夢
02:12
that the software軟件 and my brain had united聯合的,
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我感覺軟體和大腦已然合而為一
02:15
because in my dreams, it was my brain creating創建
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因為在夢裡
02:18
electronic電子 sounds聲音. It wasn't the software軟件,
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電子音是由大腦,而不是軟體發出的
02:20
so that's when I started開始 to feel like a cyborg半機械人.
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那時我覺得自己是個半機械人
02:24
It's when I started開始 to feel that the cybernetic控制論 device設備
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我開始覺得神經機械裝置
02:27
was no longer a device設備.
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並不僅僅是一個裝置
02:29
It had become成為 a part部分 of my body身體,
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它已經成為我身體的一部分
02:32
an extension延期 of my senses感官,
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感官的延伸
02:34
and after some time, it even became成為 a part部分
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不久後,它甚至成為
02:37
of my official官方 image圖片.
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我正式形象的一部分
02:40
This is my passport護照 from 2004.
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這是我2004年以後的護照
02:43
You're not allowed允許 to appear出現 on U.K. passports護照
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英國護照上不允許出現電子設備
02:46
with electronic電子 equipment設備, but I insisted堅持
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但我堅持跟官員說
02:48
to the passport護照 office辦公室 that what they were seeing眼看
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他們看到的
02:51
was actually其實 a new part部分 of my body身體,
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是我身體的一個新的部分
02:53
an extension延期 of my brain, and they finally最後 accepted公認 me
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我大腦的延伸
02:57
to appear出現 with the passport護照 photo照片.
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他們最終接受我用這種護照照片
02:59
So, life has changed dramatically顯著 since以來 I hear color顏色,
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我的人生從能聽見色彩的那一刻發生了劇變
03:03
because color顏色 is almost幾乎 everywhere到處,
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色彩無處不在
03:05
so the biggest最大 change更改 for example is
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最大的改變發生在
03:08
going to an art藝術 gallery畫廊, I can listen to a Picasso畢加索,
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去美術館,聆聽畢卡索
03:13
for example. So it's like I'm going to a concert音樂會 hall大廳,
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就像是去音樂廳
03:16
because I can listen to the paintings繪畫.
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我可以聽到那些畫
03:18
And supermarkets超級市場, I find this is very shocking觸目驚心,
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超市更是驚人
03:20
it's very, very attractive有吸引力 to walk步行 along沿 a supermarket超級市場.
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逛超市變成一項超級吸引人的事
03:23
It's like going to a nightclub夜店.
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就像去夜店一樣
03:25
It's full充分 of different不同 melodies旋律. (Laughter笑聲) Yeah.
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各種旋律無所不包
(笑聲)沒錯
03:28
Especially特別 the aisle走道 with cleaning清潔的 products製品.
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特別是清潔用品區
03:30
It's just fabulous極好. (Laughter笑聲)
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太讚了(笑聲)
03:33
Also, the way I dress連衣裙 has changed.
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我的穿衣方式也發生了改變
03:36
Before, I used to dress連衣裙 in a way that it looked看著 good.
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從前,我穿好看的
03:38
Now I dress連衣裙 in a way that it sounds聲音 good. (Laughter笑聲)
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現在,我穿好聽的(笑聲)
03:43
(Applause掌聲)
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(鼓掌)
03:48
So today今天 I'm dressed連衣裙的 in C major重大的,
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今天我穿的是C大調
03:51
so it's quite相當 a happy快樂 chord. (Laughter笑聲)
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是十分快樂的和弦(笑聲)
03:54
If I had to go to a funeral葬禮, though雖然,
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但如果我要去參加葬禮
03:56
I would dress連衣裙 in B minor次要, which哪一個 would be
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我就會穿上b小調
03:58
turquoise綠松石, purple紫色 and orange橙子. (Laughter笑聲)
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也就是藍綠色、紫色和橘色
(笑聲)
04:07
Also, food餐飲, the way I look at food餐飲 has changed,
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我看待食物的方式也發生了改變
04:11
because now I can display顯示 the food餐飲 on a plate盤子,
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因為現在我餐盤上擺放的食物
04:15
so I can eat my favorite喜愛 song歌曲. (Laughter笑聲)
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可以讓我吃我最喜歡的歌曲(笑聲)
04:18
So depending根據 on how I display顯示 it,
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根據我擺放的方式
04:19
I can hear and I can compose撰寫 music音樂 with food餐飲.
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能夠聽見食物,用食物來作曲
04:22
So imagine想像 a restaurant餐廳 where we can have, like,
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想像一下這樣一個餐館
04:25
Lady淑女 Gaga加加 salads沙拉 as starters首發. (Laughter笑聲) I mean,
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前菜是Lady Gaga沙拉
04:28
this would get teenagers青少年 to eat their vegetables蔬菜, probably大概.
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也許這能讓青少年乖乖吃蔬菜
04:31
And also, some Rachmaninov拉赫瑪尼諾夫 piano鋼琴 concertos協奏曲
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還有,主菜是拉赫曼尼諾夫鋼琴協奏曲
04:34
as main主要 dishes碗碟, and some Bjork比約克 or Madonna麥當娜 desserts甜點,
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甜點是碧玉或者瑪丹娜
04:37
that would be a very exciting扣人心弦 restaurant餐廳
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這餐聽一定很棒
04:40
where you can actually其實 eat songs歌曲.
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你能真的吃得到歌曲
04:43
Also, the way I perceive感知 beauty美女 has changed,
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我看待美的方式也發生了改變
04:48
because when I look at someone有人, I hear their face面對,
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因為我看某人的時候,我聽到對方臉的聲音
04:52
so someone有人 might威力 look very beautiful美麗 but sound聲音 terrible可怕.
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所以一些人也許看起來很美但聽起來很糟
04:57
(Laughter笑聲) And it might威力 happen發生 the opposite對面,
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(笑聲)另一些人也許恰好相反
04:59
the other way around. So I really enjoy請享用 creating創建, like,
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我很享受的一件事
05:01
sound聲音 portraits畫像 of people.
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就是做出人們的聲音肖像
05:03
Instead代替 of drawing畫畫 someone's誰家 face面對, like drawing畫畫 the shape形狀,
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我不去畫人臉的形狀
05:07
I point at them with the eye and I write down
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而是用電子眼指向他們
05:09
the different不同 notes筆記 I hear, and then I create創建 sound聲音 portraits畫像.
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然後寫下聽到的音符,從而做出聲音肖像
05:12
Here's這裡的 some faces面孔.
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這是某些知名的臉的聲音
05:14
(Musical音樂 chords和弦)
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(和弦)
05:29
Yeah, Nicole妮可 Kidman基德曼 sounds聲音 good. (Laughter笑聲)
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對啊,妮可基嫚很好聽(笑聲)
05:32
Some people, I would never relate涉及, but they sound聲音 similar類似.
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有些人看起來完全不像,但聽上去很相似
05:35
Prince王子 Charles查爾斯 has some similarities相似之處 with Nicole妮可 Kidman基德曼.
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比如查爾斯王子和妮可基嫚就很像
05:38
They have similar類似 sound聲音 of eyes眼睛.
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他們眼睛的頻率音很像
05:40
So you relate涉及 people that you wouldn't不會 relate涉及,
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於是你會把本無關聯的人聯繫起來
05:42
and you can actually其實 also create創建 concerts音樂會
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你也能開場音樂會
05:46
by looking at the audience聽眾 faces面孔.
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全憑看看觀眾的臉
05:48
So I connect the eye, and then I play the audience's觀眾的 faces面孔.
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我連上電子眼,然後播放觀眾臉的音樂
05:51
The good thing about this is,
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這樣做的好處是
05:53
if the concert音樂會 doesn't sound聲音 good, it's their fault故障.
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如果音樂會很難聽,那全是觀眾的錯
05:56
It's not my fault故障, because — (Laughter笑聲)
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與我無關,因為...
(笑聲)
05:58
And so another另一個 thing that happens發生 is that
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我身上發生的另一個改變是
06:02
I started開始 having this secondary次要 effect影響
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電子眼產生的副作用
06:05
that normal正常 sounds聲音 started開始 to become成為 color顏色.
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平常的聲音開始有了色彩
06:09
I heard聽說 a telephone電話 tone, and it felt green綠色
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我聽到電話鈴聲,它是綠色的
06:12
because it sounded滿面 just like the color顏色 green綠色.
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因為和綠色的頻率音聽起來一模一樣
06:15
The BBCBBC beeps蜂鳴聲, they sound聲音 turquoise綠松石,
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BBC嗶嗶聲是藍綠色的
06:18
and listening to Mozart莫扎特 became成為 a yellow黃色 experience經驗,
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莫札特的音樂是黃色的
06:21
so I started開始 to paint塗料 music音樂 and paint塗料 people's人們 voices聲音,
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我畫出音樂,畫出人的嗓音
06:26
because people's人們 voices聲音 have frequencies頻率
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因為人的嗓音也有不同頻率
06:28
that I relate涉及 to color顏色.
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就像色彩有不同頻率
06:29
And here's這裡的 some music音樂 translated翻譯 into color顏色.
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這些是音樂轉化成色彩
06:34
For example, Mozart莫扎特, "Queen女王 of the Night," looks容貌 like this.
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比如說,莫札特魔笛的“夜之皇后”,看起來是這樣
06:40
(Music音樂) Very yellow黃色 and very colorful華美,
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(音樂)鮮豔的黃色、十分多彩
06:41
because there's many許多 different不同 frequencies頻率.
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因為有不同的頻率
06:44
(Music音樂)
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(音樂)
06:48
And this is a completely全然 different不同 song歌曲.
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這是完全不同的一首歌
06:50
(Music音樂) It's Justin賈斯汀 Bieber'sBieber的 "Baby寶寶." (Laughter笑聲)
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(音樂)小賈斯汀”Baby”(笑聲)
06:54
(Music音樂)
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(音樂)
06:56
It is very pink and very yellow黃色.
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非常的粉紅和黃色
06:59
So, also voices聲音, I can transform轉變 speeches演講 into color顏色,
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對於嗓音,我能把演講轉化成色彩
07:06
for example, these are two very well-known知名 speeches演講.
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這是兩個十分著名的演講
07:10
One of them is Martin馬丁 Luther路德 King's國王 "I Have A Dream夢想,"
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一個是馬丁‧路德‧金恩的“我有個夢”
07:14
and the other one is Hitler希特勒.
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另一個是希特勒的演說
07:15
And I like to exhibit展示 these paintings繪畫 in the exhibition展覽 halls大廳
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我喜歡在陳列廳裡展示這兩幅畫
07:18
without labels標籤, and then I ask people,
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不放標籤
然後我會問人們
07:21
"Which哪一個 one do you prefer比較喜歡?"
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“你喜歡哪一個?”
07:23
And most people change更改 their preference偏愛
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大多數人會改變主意
07:25
when I tell them that the one on the left is Hitler希特勒
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一旦我告訴他們左邊的是希特勒
07:28
and the one on the right is Martin馬丁 Luther路德 King國王.
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右邊的才是馬丁‧路德‧金恩
07:31
So I got to a point when I was able能夠 to perceive感知 360 colors顏色,
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現在我已經能夠辨認360種顏色
07:37
just like human人的 vision視力.
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就像人類視覺
07:39
I was able能夠 to differentiate區分 all the degrees of the color顏色 wheel.
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我可以辨認出色相環上任何角度的顏色
07:42
But then, I just thought that
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但我又想
07:44
this human人的 vision視力 wasn't good enough足夠.
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人類視覺還不夠好
07:47
There's many許多, many許多 more colors顏色 around us
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有很多顏色
07:50
that we cannot不能 perceive感知,
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我們是無法看到的
07:51
but that electronic電子 eyes眼睛 can perceive感知.
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但這個電子眼可以感應到
07:53
So I decided決定 to continue繼續 extending擴展 my color顏色 senses感官,
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於是我決定繼續擴展我的色彩感覺
07:57
and I added添加 infrared紅外線 and I added添加 ultraviolet紫外線
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我把紅外線和紫外線
08:01
to the color-to-sound顏色 - 聲音 scale規模, so now I can hear colors顏色
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加入到這個色彩/聲音譜
08:05
that the human人的 eye cannot不能 perceive感知.
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就能聽見那些人眼所無法看到的顏色
08:07
For example, perceiving感知 infrared紅外線 is good because you can
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感知到紅外線的好處是
08:10
actually其實 detect檢測 if there's movement運動 detectors探測器 in a room房間.
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你能知道房間裡有沒有運動探測儀器
08:14
I can hear if someone有人 points at me with a remote遠程 control控制.
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如果有人用遙控器指著我,我能聽見
08:18
And the good thing about perceiving感知 ultraviolet紫外線 is that
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感知紫外線的好處是
08:21
you can hear if it's a good day or a bad day to sunbathe曬太陽,
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你可以用聽的來判斷今天是否適合日光浴
08:26
because ultraviolet紫外線 is a dangerous危險 color顏色,
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因為紫外線是一種危險的顏色
08:28
a color顏色 that can actually其實 kill us, so I think we should all have this wish希望
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它能致人死亡
我認為我們都該希望
08:32
to perceive感知 things that we cannot不能 perceive感知.
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感知到無法感知的事物
08:35
That's why, two years年份 ago,
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因此,兩年前
08:37
I created創建 the Cyborg人造人 Foundation基礎,
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我發起了半機械人基金會
08:38
which哪一個 is a foundation基礎 that tries嘗試 to help people
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基金會幫助人們變成半機械人
08:41
become成為 a cyborg半機械人, tries嘗試 to encourage鼓勵 people
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鼓勵人們
08:44
to extend延伸 their senses感官
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拓展他們的感官
08:45
by using運用 technology技術 as part部分 of the body身體.
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讓科技變成身體的一部分
08:48
We should all think that knowledge知識 comes from our senses感官,
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知識來源於感知
08:52
so if we extend延伸 our senses感官,
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如果我們能擴展感知
08:54
we will consequently所以 extend延伸 our knowledge知識.
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我們就能擴展我們的知識
08:57
I think life will be much more exciting扣人心弦
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我認為生活會變得更刺激有趣
09:00
when we stop creating創建 applications應用 for mobile移動 phones手機
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當我們停止開發手機應用程式
09:03
and we start開始 creating創建 applications應用 for our own擁有 body身體.
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而開始開發人體應用程式
09:06
I think this will be a big, big change更改
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我認為這在本世紀
09:08
that we will see during this century世紀.
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將會看到這巨大的改變
09:10
So I do encourage鼓勵 you all to think about which哪一個 senses感官
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我鼓勵你們都去想一想
09:14
you'd like to extend延伸.
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自己想要擴展那個感官
09:16
I would encourage鼓勵 you to become成為 a cyborg半機械人.
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我鼓勵你們成為半機械人
09:19
You won't慣於 be alone單獨. Thank you. (Applause掌聲)
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你不會是孤單的。謝謝。
(鼓掌)
09:23
(Applause掌聲)
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(鼓掌)
Translated by Karen SONG
Reviewed by Gina Wang

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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