Wearable sensory books bring words into your body, “Flow in Place” sound art opens at the Berkeley BART Plaza, why fun-scary experiences are so thrilling, and venues get on board with sensory inclusion solutions

“The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has taken the idea of sensory fiction several stages further and offers a Science Fiction to Science Fabrication course. Using a range of sensors and tools, part of the studies include building a wearable connected book contraption in the form of a strap-on vest. This allows the reader to get fully in contact with the character’s emotions and physical states for a genuinely immersive reading experience. Selected passages trigger vibrations to influence heart rate, and […]

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How “THOUGHT-FORMS” (1901) bridged synesthesia and mysticism, calendar synaesthetes map time in space, and a light sculpture that plays like a trigger instrument

“Thought-Forms, a strange, beguiling, frequently pretentious, utterly original book first published in 1901, emerged from this ferment of late-Victorian mysticism. It was written by Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater, erstwhile members of the London Theosophical Society alongside Yeats, and it features a stunning sequence of images that illustrate the book’s central argument: emotions, sounds, ideas and events manifest as visual auras.” — Benjamin Breen, Victorian Occultism and the Art of Synesthesia Contents Selected Reads Sensory Entrancement Sensory Resources Chuckles + […]

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A synesthete explores London’s sounds, R & R is for routines and reinforcement, and an artist’s comics about Autistic Innerspace displays sensory triggers

“I can’t be subtle with my reaction. I cover my face or hide away.” — Helen, Autistic InnerSpace Comic No.146 Contents Selected Reads Sensory Entrancement Sensory Resources Chuckles + Daydreams Sources Discussion Comments

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Music duo Polychrome multi-tracked vocals in ‘Synesthesia’, a literacy specialist shares her sensory-friendly reading log, and hypnotic laser engraving

“Unlike most reading logs, there are no requirements on the type of book to read. Readers don’t have to keep track of time or write down the book title. The only requirement? To read — anything! There is a list of interesting and fun reading opportunities, and kids check them off as they are completed. For instance, kids can read a comic book or a newspaper article, read in the bathtub or listen to an audiobook, read to a family […]

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David Verdesi’s journey to discover sensory superhumans becomes a Coppola film, dyspraxia diagnoses stories, and perpetual sensory flight, fight, or freeze takes a toll

“It can result in leading oneself deeper in to a neurotic retreat and isolation in to those “oh-so-distracting pleasurable safe feelings” which one comes to cherish, finding solace in a perceived to be real yet still illusory sensation and feeling of “energy ” which is then equated with being spiritual or feeling good, without realizing that the momentary high leads nowhere concretely in term of actual mental and emotional growth, not to mention nowhere in term of genuine development. It […]

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Dinosaurs apparently smelled flowers, nature sounds become a multi-million dollar industry, and a perspective shift in what students value in writers

“McKamey argues that the most important skill for a teacher is his or her ability to build trust with a student, which develops when students can sense that the educator is willing to hear their ideas, thoughts, and musings despite their challenges with grammar, low grades, or test scores in previous classes. This doesn’t mean that teachers need to cushion their feedback with fake praise, but it does mean, she thinks, that schools should help teachers develop skills to recognize […]

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Presumptions of deficit can be damaging, embracing rather than masking autism can open the door for happiness, and piercing ASMR supercuts found in Harry Potter #takethemaskoff

“I have seen some autistic people argue that blaming society for our difficulties is shirking personal responsibility and that we should be aiming to ‘improve’ ourselves. This stance says a lot about their conceptualisation of autism: If one sees autistic people as deficient or lacking in some way compared to non-autistic people then it is understandable that one would believe that acting more like a non-autistic person is “self-improvement.” I do not see autism that way at all. All humans […]

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Doritos flavoring fools your senses into thinking they’re nutritious, rhythm perception may help stuttering, and cake icing videos to rest your mind

“We think we experience the aroma of food when we smell it, but it’s actually a bit more complex than that. When you bite into the food, the aroma goes into the back of your throat and through a small hole up into your nose. This is called retronasal olfaction, and is actually a more powerful form of smelling than normal smelling. This is what allows you to experience the richness and nuance of food.

Brain scans reveal the experience of flavor takes up more gray matter than any other sensory experience. Additionally, the largest portion of the human genome involves the creation of your nose. So, from an evolutionary perspective, this chemical-sensing ability appears to be particularly important.”

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Hearing silent images is the most common synesthesia, UCLA transferred snail memories, and I hear “Yanny”

“Up to one in five people may show signs of a synesthesia-like phenomenon in which they ‘hear’ silent flashes or movement, according to a new study from City, University of London.

While the effect is barely known to science, the researchers found that this ‘visually-evoked auditory response’ (vEAR) is far more common than other types of synesthesia – such when certain sounds elicit a specific colour – with flashing lights and motion evoking vivid sounds.

The survival of this association may also explain other links between sound and vision, such as why we like to listen to music synchronised with flashing lights or dance.

…While other typical synesthesias are estimated to have an overall prevalence of 4.4 per cent, the vEAR effect has recently gained some prominence on social media following the rise of ‘noisy GIFs’, and in particular the ‘thudding pylon’ GIF which received thousands of retweets.”

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An undiagnosed love story, autistic vision focuses on the details, and an auditory dimension augmented reality experience

“…The turning point came with a startling realisation: we don’t argue. Ever. Early on in our marriage I was terrified of any sign of anger on his part. Even mild irritation left me quaking. I would shut down and not respond. In the end, we found a way to be and we haven’t had a cross word for more than a decade.

Years ago, Tim would snap over something small and I would retreat upstairs and not come down until I knew he had either gone out or had calmed down. I simply didn’t engage. Now he no longer even considers getting cross; he knows nothing will come of it. Problems are discussed calmly and solutions negotiated. Anything else seems bizarre to me. Why would anyone want to scream and shout at the person they love?”

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Neuroscientist creates a sensory vest, Prometheus rises again in Westworld S2, and the precision factor in poetry and math

“Stanford neuroscientist David Eagleman invented the Versatile Extra-Sensory Transducer (VEST), a wearable tactile display that translates myriad kinds of information, from speech to sounds to digital data, into patterns of vibrations on the skin. The device was inspired by Eagleman’s study of synesthesia, the fascinating neurological phenomenon whereby stimulation of one sense involuntarily triggers another sensory pathway.”

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A.I. hears music in your head, businesses use music to affect tasting experience, and the brain processes sight and sound the same

“Music menus: Restaurants that are putting more emphasis on their soundtracks—aiming to create the right mood rather than just muffling the conversations of diners and other background noise—include renowned Los Angeles restaurant Vespertine, where a series of seven tracks is heard before, during and after the multicourse meal.

“Music, for sure, is arguably the most important part of my creative process,” says chef Jordan Kahn.

Music is hard to miss at Vespertine, where the $250 tasting menu is currently 19 courses. Kahn says he aims “to use sound to enhance and augment the dining experience, not to distract the guest.””

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Experiments may prove the Source Field of intelligent consciousness, Julia shares her ASD personality on Sesame Street, and the tranquility of sensory deprivation floating

“Within the field of quantum mechanics, physicists, too, have opened their eyes to the possibilities of a conscious, vibratory field that permeates the Universe. In his best-selling book, The Source Field Investigations, author David Wilcock proposes the question, “could all space, time, energy, matter, biological life, and consciousness in the Universe be the product of a source field?” He references a number of curious experiments conducted by scientists over the last century which add credence to his theory, and by the end of the book it is difficult to refute the existence of what he names the ‘Source Field’.”

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Reading helps with anxiety, 50 fourth grade level book recommendations from teachers, and dyslexia makes great designers

SENSORY NEWS REPORT    Sylvester, C. (1922) Journeys Through Bookland : a New and Original Plan for Reading Applied to the World’s Best Literature for Children, p.226 [photograph]. Retrieved from The Commons on Flickr (Public Domain) , https://flic.kr/p/oeRmRM.   #thursdaymorning #sensoryreaders #sensorynews #multisensory #stimtoys   Contents Selected Reads + Buzz Book + Stim Tool Halcyon Entrancement Chuckles Sources

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Genetics affect synaesthetes, odor plays a role in social cue perception, and museums are becoming sensory-friendly

SENSORY NEWS REPORT Selected Reads + Buzz Book + Stim Tool Halcyon Entrancement Chuckles Sources From Twitter: [latest posts]     #thursdaymorning #sensoryreaders #sensory #multisensory #stimtoys #news #sensorynewsreport

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