Aisen Caro Chacin’s Wearables Let You Hear Color, Echolocate, and Smell Time
CBC has a piece on artist and researcher Aisen Caro Chacin’s project, “Sensory Pathways for the Plastic Mind,” which allows wearers the chance to experience altered sensory perception. From CBCNews:
One device allows wearers to smell the time.
The watch contains small bulbs that hold various scents, which are released at various times:
12 a.m. – 6 a.m. is chamomile.
6 a.m. – 12 p.m. is coffee, “to start waking you up slowly.”
12 p.m. – 6 p.m. is paper and tarnish, “because I wanted to make it smell like money.”
6 p.m. – 12 a.m. is whisky and tobacco.
While these smells are Chacin’s favourites, they can be adjusted to suit the wearer’s preferences.
The watch also contains small amounts of chemicals to promote the desired state of being. For example, there’s a touch of caffeine during the coffee-scented hours and some melatonin in the evenings.
Another device, dubbed the play-a-grill, transmits sound using bone conduction hearing. It allows users to hear music through their teeth when the retainer-like device is placed in their mouth.
Her final two creations in that project are headphones that enable people to use echolocation — similarly to bats or whales — and a contraption that helps people see with their tongue.
While her work is artistic in nature, Chacin believes it could become assistive technology for some people.
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