It may be a while before we can go to concerts again but when we do we may be wearing special suits that would let us hear the music through vibrations. An impressive feat that would be made possible by haptic feedback technology.
Blue Door Media explains:
“The technology is not necessarily new. Many smartphones utilize haptic touch; when you long-press the screen on an iPhone you receive a slight vibration that lets you know the phone is responding.
Some virtual reality tech also utilizes haptic feedback to simulate touch and other sensations in the virtual world.
NIL’s haptic suit is unique because it was designed specifically for live musical performance.
Although their project was aimed to foster inclusivity for the deaf and hard of hearing, it doesn’t exclude others in the process. The haptic suit is intended to enhance the live entertainment experience for everyone involved.”
Considering that listening to music is already a communal experience (some research even suggests that our brains sync up with the musician’s brain when we attend a concert) I wonder if listening vibrationally could form an even stronger full body connection among concert goers. This technology could even unleash a new art form and change how we experience music forever.
And it’s not even the only new musical development in the works. Elon Musk’s secretive brain interface company Neuralink may one day make it possible to stream music directly into our brains!
As Futurism puts it:
“On Sunday afternoon, when computer scientist Austin Howard asked Musk on Twitter if we could one day listen to music directly through such an interface — streaming it directly into the brain, in other words, with no headphones needed — Musk replied with a curt ‘yes.'”
It remains to be seen whether or not that will actually be possible (and how invasive the implant will be) but nonetheless it still points towards an exciting future. One in which we constantly invent and re-invent new ways to listen to and interact with music.
Are Haptic Suits the Greatest Idea Ever?
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