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New device allows blind, visually impaired community to experience eclipse through sound
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BATON ROUGE - A little blue box called a "lightsound device" has been a game-changer for the blind and visually impaired communities when it comes to experiencing a solar eclipse.
The instrument, developed by a team at Harvard University, converts light into sound.
"Being able to hear light instead of see it, I think that's pretty impressive. Before today, I didn't even think that was possible," one student at the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired said.
There are light sensors on the device that detect changes in the intensity. As the sunlight dims during an eclipse, it emits various musical tones.
There are only two of these devices in Louisiana. The second is located in New Orleans.
"And so this gives us the opportunity; if we can't see it, we can hear it and we can visualize it," said Susan Covington, LSVI's principal.
Although the cloud cover presented a challenge for most of the capital area to even view the historic event, students still sat in awe as they noted the changes in the sounds coming from the speakers connected to the device. It is surely something they will never forget.
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