Kurt Uenala is a Swiss born, grammy award nominated producer, programmer and educator based in Iceland. He has remixed and worked on a wide variety of music projects such as Depeche Mode, The Kills, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Raveonettes and many more. In this week Open Lab Kurt presents to us his research into the emotional impact of music on a non-hearing listener, with the help of a device he is developing and has dubbed the 0dB Chair.

How does a deaf person experience music? Do they feel the same music-induced emotions that a hearing-abled person feels when presented through a vibrating, tactile interface? Does a minor chord that is generally labeled as “sad” feel the same to a non-hearing person? Through his work with the 0dB chair Uenala has explored the emotional impact of specific musical fragments transmitted to a non-hearing person via a this prototype device.

http://www.kurtuenala.com/