Neil Harbison

'The worlds first recognised cyborg.'

As a child he was diagnosed with achromatopsia. This means he could only see the world in black and white. In his second year at college he attended a cybernetics lecture given by Adam Montandon. After introducing himself and explaining his condition the pair started working on a project called the eyeborg project.

What they came up with was a camera, mounted on his head that picks up colours and converts them in to sound waves.  By memorising the different frequencies he became the first person in history with the ability to hear colours.

The eyeborg was further developed by Peter Kese, a Slovenian software developer. This further development meant that Harbison can now perceive three hundred and sixty color hues through varying frequencies. Not only that by adjusting the volume levels accordingly he can also measure color saturation.

Then came the year in which Harbison was obliged to renew his passport. British officials are notorious for their determination to disallow any objects other than a person’s face in to passport photographs.

Harbison’s passport application was rejected on the grounds that his prosthetic was in the picture.There is a little irony here as Harbison will not himself work from photographs when painting people - only real human faces as, it seems, photos produce different sounds.
So ensued months of letters of support from Doctors and educators which argued that Harbison’s prosthetic device was, effectively, part of him. The officials relented and the eyeborg was allowed in to picture, so confirming officially Harbison’s status as the first officially recognized cyborg in history.