First rock concert for deaf people to be held in Toronto

photo by Colin McConnell/Toronto Star

Remember that scene in Mr. Holland's Opus where Richard Dreyfuss is singing John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy" to his son Cole? It's the one where sign language interpreters stood on stage and large speakers filled the concert hall so the hearing impaired could feel the vibrations of the music. At that time (early 1980s), the most a deaf person could do to feel the power of music was to let the vibrations and beats coming through a speaker travel through his or her body.

Fast forward a couple decades to 2009, and the same basic process is still happening, only now, it's a little more sophisticated. It was recently announced that Clinton's Tavern in Toronto will hold the first rock concert for the hearing impaired on March 5 with Fox Jaws, The Dufraines and Hollywood Swank among the performers.

How exactly are they going to do this? Put simply, an invention called the Emoti-Chair. This chair, developed by Ryerson University's Centre for Learning Technologies in Toronto, is a full-body vibrator that reacts to the frequency of individual notes. According to an article in the Toronto Star, the frequencies are translated into vibrations, rocking or even a blast of air in the face depending on what type of music is being played.

Pretty cool, huh?