We sense gravity in that free fall feeling that spread through our body, or the way our self get lose when we dance with freedom of movements and even when music takes over our brain in an immersive state. We experience gravity every day just by being able to stand and keep balance.
Balance is a phycological senses that relays in the visual system, which tells the brain where we are in space and how we relate to objects, the vestibular system that regulates the equilibrium and provides directional information and proprioception, which is associated with kinetics, muscle reactions and awareness of the body.
Is it possible to create a wearable that produces a synesthetic experience by stimulating the sensory and cognitive pathways related to balance?
KYNESTHESIA: is a VR headset that hacks the senses of equilibrium and the visual perception with music changing the notion of our body and our mind. It allows us to enter into an alter reality and experience motion without moving.
The VR headset hacks the vestibular system using GVS. A bilateral and bipolar stimulated with 2 electrodes, one positive and one negative, placed behind the mastoids, (the bone behind the ear). By passing current through this points the perception of balance shifts from one side to the other. These current flows are activated with the beats and frequency of a song. The electrodes power is controlled through the music frequency.
Music stimulates the proprioceptive system. Since the beginning of times, music has been an important part of dances, rituals, social interactions and introspective experiences. Our brain and our body respond to the sounds around us.
In the VR headset, there is going to render images responding and moving to the same song. The minimal aesthetics of the visualization is integrated with the whole system allowing a deeper immersion on this alter reality.
The GVS is programmed with Arduino and Max MSP.
With Max Msp the frequency and beat of the song are read into right and left ear, sending this these frequencies to an Arduino UNO which sets the potentiometer of a TENS therapy circuit between 0 to 1.5 amps, depending on the rhythm of the song.
picked for this experiment is Pink Floyd’s ‘Any Color you like’ from the album Dark Side of the Moon, the tridimensionality of the song enables a more intense overall experience. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is known for it immersive sounds.
Kynesthesia aims to elevate oneself in a out of the body experience by stimulating sensory pathways that leads to an involuntary actions in other sensory pathway.