The premise of a contest announced in November was to create a magical experience based solely on sound, challenging the idea that magic tricks typically rely on visual elements. The goal was to answer the question of whether magic tricks could be experienced through the ears alone. Researchers in England proposed this challenge as part of an effort to explore the potential of nonvisual magic.
Magician and psychologist Gustav Kuhn, from the University of Plymouth, studies magic to better understand the human mind. He sees magic tricks as a way for people who are blind to experience a world without visual stimulus, similar to a world without music for those who have never heard it. He became interested in nonvisual magic when his visually impaired student, Tyler Gibgot, joined his research team, sparking a new area of exploration.
The lack of auditory magic tricks suggests fundamental differences between how our brains process visual and auditory information. Our eyes provide continuous information while sounds are transient. Auditory magic tricks may not be as common because hearing is not as reliable as vision. Humans are visual beings, so we are more surprised when our eyes deceive us compared to our ears. This contest was meant to address this gap and make magic more inclusive for those who may not be able to rely on visual cues.
Magic tricks often involve creating a conflict between what we believe is possible and what our senses perceive. This conflict is central to the surprise and delight of magic tricks. Conventional magic tricks that do involve hearing often rely on other senses or language to create the illusion. The submissions to the contest all relied on some form of language to convey the magical experience. Using language in auditory magic tricks opens up new possibilities in this realm.
The contest will be reopening next year with a broader scope to engage all nonvisual senses, not just sound. The hope is that future submissions will continue to push the boundaries of nonvisual magic and explore new ways of creating magical experiences. For participants like Tyler Gibgot, this project brings a sense of empowerment by making magic more accessible to those who may not have relied on visual cues in the past. The winners of this year’s contest will share a prize of $200 and continue to contribute to this exciting area of research.
