Blind photographer Pranav Lal captures images using sound

By Tom Page, CNN

Updated 0217 GMT (1017 HKT) November 30, 2020

Photos: Pranav Lal, the blind photographer who sees differently

Blind photographer Pranav Lal captured this image of his shadow in a swimming pool. He uses "The vOICe" audio technology to see. It converts vision into sounds.

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Photos: Pranav Lal, the blind photographer who sees differently

Lal began taking photographs in the early 2000s.

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Photos: Pranav Lal, the blind photographer who sees differently

A bicycle installation hangs on a museum wall. "Most of my work is with light, shadow and shape," says Lal.

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Photos: Pranav Lal, the blind photographer who sees differently

An Indian street scene photographed by Lal.

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Photos: Pranav Lal, the blind photographer who sees differently

These days Lal mostly uses a smartphone, lining up the phone's camera with the field of view of a camera in his smart glasses.

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Photos: Pranav Lal, the blind photographer who sees differently

A riverside scene shot by Lal. "I think there is a lot of enhancement possible," he says of the technology that allows him to see. "I think we can go beyond organic vision, perhaps, or at least use other kinds of sensors to substitute for organic vision."

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(CNN)On holiday in Iceland a few years ago, Pranav Lal listened to the Northern Lights. As they danced above his head he heard noises, swift and high-pitched, he recalls. Out of these sounds, shapes and patterns emerged, and from them, images.

Lal, a consultant from New Delhi, was born blind, yet he can "see" thanks to technology called "The vOICe," which turns live camera images into sounds. As the camera scans from left to right, the pitch of the sounds denotes the elevation of objects, while the volume defines brightness. By learning to interpret the subtleties of the noises, it's possible to have a form of functional sight.

Pioneered by Dutch engineer Peter Meijer in the 1980s, The vOICe has evolved significantly. Through Meijer's website Seeing with Sound, it is available via glasses mounted with a camera, but also free to use for Android mobile devices, Raspberry Pi computers and as a web app; Lal even uses the software on his laptop screen, allowing him to shop online and view images of outer space.

Pranav Lal wears Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses containing a camera, which records images The vOICe converts into sound.

"The major challenge is to learn to interpret those image sounds," Meijer tells CNN.

This is why Lal turned to photography in the early 2000s. "I joined the Seeing with Sound mailing list and I slowly started asking questions: 'I heard a sound like this, what could it mean?'" he explains. "I needed to share with the world what I was looking at so that they could answer my questions."

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What started as a way to interpret objects became a hobby, with his main focus landscapes and architecture. With the sounds as his guide, Lal uses his smart glasses to position his camera.

"For me, more than photography, it is the journey of exploration and looking at an environment," he says. "When I travel, I actually now can be a 'real tourist' -- I gawk in the interest of science."

Lal's photography has been widely shared and he's formed bonds with sighted photographers on his travels. His conversations have highlighted both the similarities in their pursuit, and also the differences.

"Most of my work is with light, shadow and shape," he explains. "What I have discovered ... is (sighted photographers) also do some work with color."

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Moreover, he's surprised that, even for sighted people, description of photography is common. "If you go to an exhibition, every image is captioned," Lal says. "I