TY - JOUR
T1 - Synesthesia in science and technology
T2 - More than making the unseen visible
AU - Suslick, Kenneth S.
N1 - Funding Information:
I wish to thank Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg for helpful discussions and suggestions. This work was supported through the NIH Genes, Environment and Health Initiative ( U01ES016011 ), the Department of Defense (Contract N41756-12-R-4767 ), and the NSF ( CHE 1152232 ).
PY - 2012/12
Y1 - 2012/12
N2 - Much of our science and technology relies on the visualization of complex data, and chemical biology, more than most fields, often deals with complex datasets. There are, however, other ways of making information available to our senses beyond the visual. Rare individuals naturally have sensory crossover, whose synesthesia permits them, for example, to see colors or shapes when hearing sounds or to sense a specific taste with a specific word. Many scientists, technologists and inventors, however, make a conscious attempt to convert one type of sensory-like input to a different sensory output. A laser light show, for example, converts sound to sight; infrared imaging converts heat to sight. Two recent examples of such intentional synesthesia are discussed in this context: sight-tasting and smell-seeing.
AB - Much of our science and technology relies on the visualization of complex data, and chemical biology, more than most fields, often deals with complex datasets. There are, however, other ways of making information available to our senses beyond the visual. Rare individuals naturally have sensory crossover, whose synesthesia permits them, for example, to see colors or shapes when hearing sounds or to sense a specific taste with a specific word. Many scientists, technologists and inventors, however, make a conscious attempt to convert one type of sensory-like input to a different sensory output. A laser light show, for example, converts sound to sight; infrared imaging converts heat to sight. Two recent examples of such intentional synesthesia are discussed in this context: sight-tasting and smell-seeing.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cbpa.2012.10.030
DO - 10.1016/j.cbpa.2012.10.030
M3 - Review article
C2 - 23183411
AN - SCOPUS:84872266530
SN - 1367-5931
VL - 16
SP - 557
EP - 563
JO - Current Opinion in Chemical Biology
JF - Current Opinion in Chemical Biology
IS - 5-6
ER -