Apple’s Music Haptics - Turns Music to Touch

An interesting feature in Apple’s accessibility menu is Music Haptics. When switched on, compatible songs will also tap the beat out on the hand that’s holding the phone.

I’ve given it a try and, although it’s not an essential feature, it does make you feel more connected to the nuances of the song.

Neuroscience tells us* we retain ability to rewire our brains to take in sensory information in new ways when our existing sense organ is damaged. Apple Haptics is an innovative way to harness this capacity.

You may be struggling to appreciate the value, and I don’t blame you. But, we already swap one sense for another in all kinds of things. The worst example I can think of is my Fire Alarm Headache. 🤕. I can’t hear high pitches such as the smoke alarm, even through hearing aids. When a 95 decibel smoke alarm goes off, it’s amplified to 132 decibels in my aids. I still can’t hear it, but I get a piercing pain in my skull very quickly. I haven’t turned the aid down, because it really gets my attention and may yet save me from a fire!

Better examples might be a vibrating alarm clock (instead of a ringer), or the knobbled pavement that tells the blind there’s an edge coming up.

More sophisticated still, the map of electrical signals on the tongue or back that allows the blind to “see” the pattern of what’s in front of them, in fair detail and accurately mapped.

Haptics have the ability to transmit information by varying the intensity, style and location of the vibrations along with the volume, pitch and time of the sound elements.

Give Haptics a try if you have an iPhone. The science behind it is sound**!

*David Eagleman’s book Livewired covers this in depth.

**couldn’t resist, sorry