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WACO, Texas (KWTX) - In just a few days thousands of people will be gathering all across central Texas to watch the total solar eclipse.

But for those who are visually impaired, the City of Waco will have a special tool out at their Eclipse over Texas event so that they can listen to the eclipse.

It’s called a LightSound box and it was designed back in 2017 by astronomers Allyson Bieryla and Dr. Wanda Diaz Merced at Harvard University.

“There’s a lot of effort these days to use our other senses in astronomy, to let people experience the universe not just through our eyes,” shared Dr. Michael West, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory.

This device means that anyone who is blind or has low vision will still be able to experience this incredible phenomenon with everyone else.

“The LightSound box is a sonification tool,” explains Jelena Lane with Lowell Observatory, “it has a light sensor on the back and so it picks up the light and it translates that light into sound”.

When it is hit with direct sunlight it makes a very high pitched noise, and as that sunlight goes away it will drop to a lower pitch.

This means that as the moon begins to cover the sun and eventually reaches totality, anyone with one of these LightSound boxes will be able to hear it.

And to make sure the sound is more enjoyable, the box uses sounds from instruments like flutes and clarinets.

According to Dr. West, “it used to be a much more electronic sound when they first started it a few years ago, but now it’s much more musical, it’s much more melodic”.

People in Waco for the eclipse can see or hear this sound box in action by visiting the Lowell Observatory booth at the eclipse over Texas event on April 8th.

“We’ll have the LightSound boxes and the speakers going, and we’ll be doing demonstrations throughout,” said Lane.

They will also have physical models out and other activities to help people visualize the eclipse without using their sight.

Both the City of Waco and the Lowell Observatory are excited to be able to offer this experience to the visually impaired community or anyone else interested.