Feeling the Beats

Music: Not Impossible

BY JOHN MIHALY

The Music: Not Impossible haptic suit—a wearable backpack that weighs a couple pounds, with wrist and ankle attachments—translates audio from a concert venue’s mixers and placed microphones into vibrations that allow people who are deaf to feel the music on their skin. From events at Lincoln Center to South x Southwest, Music: Not Impossible has been lending its not-yet-commercially available suits to deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors. “For the deaf, it’s not just about the music; it’s the social aspect,” says Daniel Belquer, the company’s co-founder and “chief vibrational officer.” “To be involved in something larger than themselves, to disappear among the crowd—[hearing people] take it for granted.”