- While eclipse viewers focus on the sky, blind and visually impaired people can participate in the celestial event through sound and touch.
- On April 8, when a total solar eclipse will occur in North America, audio and touch devices will be provided at public gatherings to facilitate the experience.
- Yuki Hatch, a visually impaired student from Texas, expressed her excitement about experiencing the eclipse through a light sound box.
Eclipse viewers will look to the sky, but people who are blind or visually impaired can hear and feel the celestial event.
Sound and touch devices will be available at public gatherings on April 8, when a total solar eclipse will cross North America and the moon will obscure the sun for several minutes.
“Solar eclipses are so beautiful that everyone should be able to experience them at least once in their lifetime,” said Yuki Hatch, a high school senior from Austin, Texas.
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Hutch is a blind student and space enthusiast who hopes to one day become a computer scientist for NASA. On the day of the solar eclipse, she and her classmates at the Texas School for the Visually Impaired sat in the four corners of the school’s grassy exterior and listened to a small device called a light-sound box that converted changing light into sound. I am planning.
Ming Ha, assistive technology manager at Perkins School for the Blind, tries out the LightSound device for the first time in the school’s library on March 2, 2024 in Watertown, Massachusetts. When eclipse viewers turn to the skies in April 2024, new technology will allow those who are blind or visually impaired to hear and feel the celestial event. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon)
When the sun is bright, a high, delicate flute sounds. When the moon begins to cover the sun, the mid-range notes become clarinet sounds. Darkness is represented by a low clicking sound.
“I’m looking forward to not just seeing the eclipse, but actually hearing it,” Hatch.z said.
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The LightSound device is the result of a collaboration between blind astronomer Wanda Diaz Merced and Harvard University astronomer Alison Vierilla. Díaz-Merced regularly converts data to audio to analyze patterns in her research.
The prototype was first used during the 2017 total solar eclipse across the United States, and the handheld device has been used at other eclipses.
This year, they aim to work with other agencies to distribute at least 750 devices to locations where solar eclipse events will be held in Mexico, the United States, and Canada. They held workshops at universities and museums to assemble the device and provided his DIY instructions on the group’s website.
“The sky belongs to everyone, and if this event is to be available around the world, it must also be available to the visually impaired,” Diaz Merced said. “I want my students to be able to hear the eclipses and the stars.”
The Perkins Library, which is affiliated with the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass., plans to broadcast the changing sounds of its light sound device over Zoom for members to listen to online or by phone, said outreach manager Erin. Fragola said.
In addition to students, many of the library’s senior citizens have age-related vision loss, he said.
“We’re trying to find ways to make things more accessible to everyone,” he said.
Some people use Cadence tablets from Indiana-based Tactile Engineering to experience solar events through the sense of touch. A tablet is about the same size as a mobile phone and has dots arranged one above the other. It can be used for a variety of purposes, including reading Braille, feeling graphics and movie clips, and playing video games.
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Regarding solar eclipses, “students can hold their hands over the device and feel the moon moving slowly over the sun,” said Unji Lau, a professor of haptic engineering.
The Indiana School for the Blind began incorporating tablets into its curriculum last year. Some of the school’s students experienced last October’s “Ring of Fire” solar eclipse on their tablets.
Sophomore Jazmine Nelson is looking forward to joining the crowd scheduled to attend NASA’s massive solar eclipse viewing event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where tablets are available.
Using a tablet “makes you feel like you’re part of something,” she says.
Added classmate Minerva Pineda Allen (3rd grade). “This is a very rare opportunity, and we may never get another opportunity like this.”
