EyeMusic, an alternative for The vOICe?

EyeMusic is an iOS and Android app from the research group of Amir Amedi at Reichman University in Israel (formerly at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem). It uses an image to sound mapping similar to the older SmartSight approach of using musical tones to convey visual images, and aims to encode color through the use of musical instrument tones. In contrast, The vOICe approach focuses on the resolution needed for pictorial detail by deliberately not including color, since color-blind people in practice have few problems in navigation, obstacle detection and object recognition. Hence the primary focus of EyeMusic and The vOICe is different.

October 2015, publication in Nature Scientific Reports:  "'Visual’ parsing can be taught quickly without visual experience during critical periods" by Lior Reich and Amir Amedi. Based on use of The vOICe. October 2015, publication in Nature Scientific Reports:  "Auditory sensory substitution is intuitive and automatic with texture stimuli" by Noelle Stiles and Shinsuke Shimojo. Based on use of The vOICe.

The vOICe is available for Microsoft Windows, for Android, and as a platform-independent web app. It is the most widely used vision technology for the blind, and is used in many research groups around the world for studying multisensory interactions and crossmodal plasticity in the human brain.

	The vOICe for Android, available on Google Play
	The vOICe for Windows and wide-angle USB  camera glasses
	The vOICe Web App runs inside your browser, also in Safari on the iPhone with iOS
	The vOICe self-training manual

June 2022, publication in Neuropsychologia:  "A case study in phenomenology of visual experience with retinal prosthesis versus visual-to-auditory sensory substitution" by Amber Maimon, Or Yizhar, Galit Buchs, Benedetta Heimler and Amir Amedi. Based on use of EyeMusic. October 2015, poster presentation at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in Chicago:  "Exploring the preservation of specificity in 'visual' areas of the human congenitally blind brain using the EyeMusic Sensory Substitution Device and fMRI imaging" by S. Maidenbaum, S. Abboud, S. Dehaene and A. Amedi. Based on use of EyeMusic. October 2015, student presentation at the ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility in Lisbon:  "Sensory substitution training for users who are blind with dynamic stimuli, games and virtual environments" by S. Maidenbaum. Based on use of EyeMusic.

	Baruch Ivcher Institute For Brain, Cognition & Technology
	BrainVisionRehab website - no longer available? (RenewSenses website)
	EyeMusic: Hearing colored shapes (for iOS, on iTunes) - no longer available?
	EyeMusic: Hearing colored shapes (for Android, on Google Play) - no longer available?

Other projects based on or related to The vOICe approach can be found on the related projects page.