Songs for the deaf

by: Cate Simpson

March 04, 2009 12:00 PM

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Ryerson University is bringing the noise to a crowd who wouldn’t usually hear it tomorrow night (March 5) at Clinton’s Tavern, at what the organizers are calling the world’s first concert for the deaf and hard of hearing. The event is made possible by the Emoti-Chair, a device that enables deaf people to literally feel the music.

The chairs work by simulating music through vibrations and movement, explains Carmen Branje, a staff researcher at Ryerson’s Centre for Learning Technologies. “The big[est] chair has eight independent speaker channels, and also something we call the butt-kicker — an ultra low-frequency transducer that transmits sounds lower than you can hear — mounted to the base of the chair so you feel those vibrations all over.”

You wouldn’t be far off the mark if you thought this all sounded a bit It's All Gone Pete Tong. DJ Stéphane Vera, who’s among the acts lined up for next week’s concert, has even composed specific tracks with the Emoti-Chair’s vibrations in mind.

“[Vera] has been working on some pieces that are tactile only,” says Branje, whose own band, Hollywood Swank, are also scheduled to play. “He’ll put in earplugs and headphones with white noise to deafen himself, sit in the chair and compose by feel. It might sound really offensive; it’s almost a new art form.”

Vera might not play much of this music at tomorrow’s concert, which is geared at the hearing-enabled as well as deaf people. “I wanted this to be a concert not for the deaf but accessible to the deaf,” says Branje.

The event is also designed to appeal to those with limited hearing, for whom the volume will be cranked up to Dinosaur Jr. levels, so earplugs are a must for everyone else (there will be some available free at the door).

The Emoti-Chair was first imagined by Deborah Fels, the Ryerson professor behind the project. Fels has been working on innovative entertainment for deaf people since her research into closed captioning revealed the inability of text alone to convey atmosphere and mood.

“Basically,” says Branje, “we did some testing with graphics, text and text movement, and we hit a wall. There’s only so much you can convey using text-based methods.” Unsuccessful experiments with simulated smells eventually led Fels’ team to explore touch.

The team will test three types of Emoti-Chair at the Clinton's concert, each of which has slightly different features or configurations. But with only five chairs in total and organizers expecting a packed house, attendees may have to wait to experience what they have to offer.

The event will also double as a research opportunity, with surveyors and interpreters on hand to gather user testimonies. “Once people have been in the chair we’ll ask them what their experience was,” says Branje. “We’ll compare the deaf experience in the chair to the hearing experience out of the chair.”

Initial research, Branje says, has shown positive results. “The chairs have been able to convey whether a song is happy or sad. We’ve also done some very new research that hasn’t been published yet, but it seems people are able to tell the difference between the same note played by different instruments.”

Branje is primarily interested in the research aspect of the Emoti-Chair, he says, rather than its marketing potential. And at $10,000 for the prototype, the chairs are a long way from becoming must-have items for deaf people. Branje admits though that if the chairs did go into mass production and the price moved towards a more accessible $1,000, that would be “the icing on the cake.”

Hollywood Swank, The Dufraines, Fox Jaws, Ill.Gates and DJ Stephane Vera play Clinton's (696 Bloor W.) March 5, 8pm. PWYC ($5 suggested).

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Songs for the deaf

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