Investigating the science of synaesthesia and crossmodal experience as a basis of robust parameters for a visual language of sound.

Investigating the science of synaesthesia and crossmodal experience as a basis of robust parameters for a visual language of sound.

• Taking the concept of synaesthesia as a starting point and looking at the evolution of a language of visual music in the arts. How do we systematically investigate the correspondence between audio and visual components in relation to cross-modal psychology and neuroscience?
• Is the concept of synaesthesia now scientifically described enough to constitute a genuine experiential phenomenon that is wired into our wetware?
• What are the fundamental underlying principles at work in the brain and mind that cross-modal psychology and neuroscience have identified e.g. the Bouba-Kiki Effect.
• What role does language play in enabling translation from the domain of sound to the domain of the visual or spatial?
• What dimensions of correlation do we need to consider?
• What methods of investigation would be appropriate to investigate this further?
• How do we establish robust experiments that provide a solid basis for a visual language of sound that is routed in synaesthesia and cross-modal psychology and neuroscience?

This project aims to build upon recent developments in the fields of Neuroscience and Psychology that have shed new light on the concept of synaesthesia and cross-modal experiences. Particularly of relevance is the expansion of ideas related to the cross modal Bouba-Kiki effect and it persistence across cultures, as well as further findings that identify sound iconicity within language, which potentially roots key aspects of language to embodied experiences coming from the spatial or visual domains highlighting deep structures of translation or correlation between domains.

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