New technology can help blind people to hear and feel April's total solar eclipse

Those who are blind or visually challenged will be able to hear and feel the celestial event while eclipse observers glance up at the skies.  

At public events on April 8, when a total solar eclipse occurs throughout North America and the moon blocks out the sun for a brief period of time, sound and touch devices will be available.  

Yuki Hatch, a student in high school in Austin, Texas, stated, "Eclipses are very beautiful things, and everyone should be able to experience them once in their lifetime."  

Hatch is an avid space enthusiast and visually challenged student who aspires to work for NASA as a computer scientist. She and her fellow students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired intend to spend eclipse day sitting outside in the school’s grassy quad and listen to a small device called a LightSound box that translates changing light into sounds. 

When the sun is bright, there will be high, delicate flute notes. As the moon begins to cover the sun, the mid-range notes are those of a clarinet. Darkness is rendered by a low clicking sound. 

“I’m looking forward to being able to actually hear the eclipse instead of seeing it,” said Hatch. 

The LightSound device is the result of a collaboration between Wanda Díaz-Merced, an astronomer who is blind, and Harvard astronomer Allyson Bieryla. Díaz-Merced regularly translates her data into audio to analyze patterns for her research. 

A prototype was first used during the 2017 total solar eclipse that crossed the U.S., and the handheld device has been used at other eclipses. 

This year, they are working with other institutions with the goal of distributing at least 750 devices to locations hosting eclipse events in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. They held workshops at universities and museums to construct the devices, and provide DIY instructions on the group's website. 

“The sky belongs to everyone. And if this event is available to the rest of the world, it has to be available for the blind, too,” said Díaz-Merced. “I want students to be able to hear the eclipse, to hear the stars." 

According to outreach manager Erin Fragola, the Perkins Library at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, intends to broadcast the LightSound device's shifting tones over Zoom so that members can listen online and over the phone. 

With Tactile Engineering's Cadence tablet, others will be able to feel the solar event through touch. The tablet has rows of moving dots that are about the size of a cellphone. It can be used for several things, such as playing video games, feeling visuals and movie clips, and reading Braille. 

"A student can put their hand over the device and feel the moon slowly move over the sun," according to Wunji Lau of Tactile Engineering, about the eclipse.  

The Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired started incorporating the tablet into its curriculum last year. Some of the school’s students experienced last October’s “ring of fire” eclipse with the tablet. 

Sophomore Jazmine Nelson is looking forward to joining the crowd expected at NASA's big eclipse-watching event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the tablet will be available. 

With the tablet, “You can feel like you’re a part of something,” she said. 

Added her classmate Minerva Pineda-Allen, a junior. “This is a very rare opportunity; I might not get this opportunity again.”