His antenna picks up the light waves of the colors and sends them to his skull bone as vibrations. The vibrations are transformed into internal sounds, so that Harbisson hears different notes for different colors. In order to be able to visualize the sounds for himself, he memorized a color for each pitch before the device was implanted. “By the way, the red of the flower sounded very deep to me just now. This union between my body and technology has worked very well for more than 15 years now. The antenna is therefore no longer a device for me, but an organ.”

Once we arrive at Plaça de Catalunya, Harbisson says he has to get something. Without hesitation, he heads in the direction of the famous El Corte Inglés department store directly on the square, and I quickly understand why. A smile is on his face as we enter the basement with its fashion and perfume articles in all colors. “I like coming here. For me, it’s what visiting a nightclub is like for other people. A lot of exciting soundscapes.” Harbisson dives into this spectrum of sound and almost forgets about his purchase, but he never gets to the point of sensory overload. He’s long since gotten used to getting all this information that the antenna transmits – day and night, whether he’s standing in the shower or sleeping.

CYBORG AS A LIFESTYLE

We want to continue our conversation in a bar. Harbisson leads me to the cozy restaurant of L’Ovella Negra Ramblas in the historic district of El Raval very close by. Over a glass of wine and some tapas, he explains that for him it is about much more than just his own cyborg existence. He wants to encourage more people to adopt this lifestyle. “That’s why I co-founded the Cyborg Foundation and the Transpecies Society, which are to encourage more people to become cyborgs. What I care about is a close partnership not only between humans and technology but also with other like-minded people.”

In addition to his commitment to the recognition of cyborgs, Harbisson sees himself above all as an artist, with his body as his primary work. He also creates his own works of art, for example by translating the music of famous songs into “color scores.”
 

He tells us that his next project will again focus on his own body. He wants to have another artificial organ implanted, with which he will be able to feel time. Now there is time for that in reality, because a developer meeting is planned for today. Harbisson smiles as he says goodbye: “That’s the good thing about being a cyborg. In contrast to my traditional senses, my new senses can get better and better with age, because technology is constantly evolving.” While lost in thought as I watch him leave, I ask myself: Is this what humans of the future will look like?