Thought Wheel

Ann Chiappetta

To Touch the Sun, Well, Almost

| Filed under blindness writing

A solar eclipse is almost upon us and the northern hemisphere will have the best view, according to experts. I love astronomical phenomena, and I am so excited to be able to feel and hear it, thanks to the eclipse soundscapes project. To learn more about the project, go here http://eclipsesoundscapes.org/

Thanks to some astute engineers and tech-savvy folks, visually impaired mobile phone users will be able to feel, in real time, the movement of the heavenly bodies as they converge and then pass one another. This is done by the vibrations in the phone, using pixels and other arcane things I don’t quite understand. It is 21st Century magic and that’s all I can say. My fingers and phone are ready. After the eclipse, us VI folks will most assuredly report on our experiences, me included, so stay tuned and maybe turn on some tunes like The Police, David Bowie or the 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack to set the mood.