At the Philharmonie de Paris, vibrating backpacks for the deaf and hard of hearing

From the 2023-2024 season, the deaf and hard of hearing will be able to enjoy classical music concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. This, thanks to a device no bigger than a small backpack. Developed by the company SoundX, the equipment is connected to an artificial intelligence that transforms sounds into vibrations felt by the body. “We analyze the entire audio spectrum from 0 to 20,000 hertz. We take these frequencies which are relatively high in the audio spectrum and we transcribe them, with very, very high precision, in a vibrational spectrum which is in the bass”, explains the designer, Damien Quintard.

A technology tested for three years

The equipment was tested and improved with students from the National Institute for Deaf Youth in Paris. “We will be able to increase the instruments”, rejoices Elsa Fantucci, their music teacher. “It will depend a little on what the students ask me. We will be able to distinguish the strings, violins, all the slightly high-pitched brass instruments. It allows us to feel them much better”.

This is confirmed by young deaf people: they feel the rhythms, intensity and emotions of music better. The Philharmonie de Paris wishes to test and then extend this system. “We are going to allow ourselves all this season to calibrate things, including from a technical point of view”, announces Hélène Lamotte, in charge of accessibility at Philharmonie. She “hope that for the next season, a good part of the shows” will be equipped with this device. Half a dozen vibrating backpacks will be available from September.