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LightSound Workshop

People gathered at La Portada Stadium in La Serena, Chile, during the 2 July 2019 solar eclipse. A LightSound device is positioned on a table and is connected to a large speaker to project the sound to the crowd. Photo by Allyson Bieryla.

People from the blind and low-vision community listen to a LightSound device during the July 2019 eclipse in La Serena, Chile. Photo by Allyson Bieryla.

Jan

28

2024

10:00 am – 4:00 pm
In Person (view details)
Cost: Free
The UT Astronomy Department is excited to host a workshop by the LightSound team on the sonification of light to make eclipses more accessible to the blind and low-vision community.
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Description

The LightSound Project is working toward building more than 750+ LightSound devices to donate to eclipse events, making eclipses more accessible to members of the blind and low-vision community (BLV). The LightSound device, developed in 2017 as a tool for the BLV community to experience a solar eclipse, uses sonification — converting data (light intensity in this case) — to sound. As the moon eclipses the sun during a solar eclipse, the sunlight begins to dim, and the LightSound device will output a change in musical tone.

The aim of the UT Astronomy workshops is to build 300 LightSound devices over two days, January 28th and 29th on the UT Austin campus. Workshops will be taught in groups of around 20 people in two-hour time blocks.

January 28

  • 10am-12pm
  • 12pm-2pm
  • 2pm-4pm

January 29

  • 9-11am
  • 11am-1pm

The workshops are open to all and you can join one or multiple sessions. You will be taught to solder, so no previous experience is needed.

Sign up here.

A volunteer works on soldering parts for a LightSound device.

A volunteer works on soldering parts for a LightSound device.

Inside of a LightSound sonification device.

Location

PMA 15.202A

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