MOREHEAD, Ky. — Monday’s solar eclipse is anticipated to draw large crowds to western Kentucky. One university has a form of technology meant to help blind and visually impaired (BVI) people enjoy the experience. 

Scientists Allyson Bieryla, Wanda Diaz-Merced and Daniel Davis first developed the LightSound Box in 2017 to help the BVI community experience solar eclipses.

This is the LightSound Box. It has a light sensor that detects light, and the device makes either flute, clarinet or clicking sounds depending on the level of brightness. (Spectrum News 1/Geraldine Torrellas)

After testing out the first version, astronomer Sóley Hyman developed a different sound profile.

Now the box has a flute setting that Morehead State University professor Wilson Gonzalez-Espada said is, “going to represent some of the higher pitches, meaning that the light is very bright.”

As light gets covered, the sound goes from a flute sound to clarinet, then clicking sounds when it’s completely dark.

Gonzalez-Espada got the first version of the device in 2017 to collect data from it at his university.

He said after the light sensor picks up the light, “it’s converted into sound and then the sound goes out to the speakers.”

Gonzalez-Espada believes it’s important to make science inclusive, which the device represents, he said. 

“You want everybody to be part of the process of doing science, learning science and appreciating science," Gonzalez-Espada said. "By using technology, we can integrate everybody into a process as wonderful as a solar eclipse."

The project has grown immensely since it started because of funding it has received from different organizations. There are 900 LightSound Boxes across North, Central and South America.

Gonzalez-Espada holds the side of the LightSound Box with the logo up. The name of the device is written in Braille at the top. (Spectrum News 1/Geraldine Torrellas)

“I think there’s a lot of excitement, and really, the main thing that I keep hearing over and over is just how a lot of folks felt left out in 2017," Bieryla said. "This is a way that I think they can interact with the eclipse ... not just being told what’s going on or happening around them."

Gonzalez-Espada said he plans to have the device set up with speakers for Monday’s eclipse. He added any member of the community who wants to experience the eclipse can stop by Morehead State's stuednt center from around 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting. 

Spectrum News 1 will have a team in Paducah for Monday’s eclipse and will provide live coverage throughout the day.