Imagine if people with sight difficulties could actually "hear" some artwork, such as a painting? A new technology from Poland is now making this possible. It generates different sounds to represent different colours. Take a look at this story, courtesy of Reuters.

Being partially sighted normally means Przemyslaw Rogalski isn't easily able to enjoy works of art. But this new technology from Poland is letting him hear the painting in front of him. The artwork itself is a digital copy of the original. The program maps out the precise location of each colour in the image, and then generates a sound suitable for each colour. Motion sensors detect where the viewer is pointing, with different colours converted into correlating sounds.

RADOSLAW BEDNARSKI RESEARCHER AT LODZ UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY "The application works in such a way that it allows really everyone to combine the art of painting with the art of sound. The person who wants to hear the picture approaches it, stands in the designated place and then, using their hand, points to places in the image that are then detected by the motion sensor and the colour of the location is converted to the appropriate sound."

The developers hope it could make art much more accessible to blind and visually impaired people. They're currently exploring the possibility of installing the technology in museums and art galleries.