Feel It in Your Bones

On Brühl's Terrace, a beautiful strolling place in the heart of Dresden's old city that overlooks the Elbe River, you can find a handful of these inconspicuous plaques on the terrace's railing.


It's an interactive art exhibit called the "Touched Echo", which, strangely enough, we learned about after it was featured on a few (non-German) technology blogs. Last Saturday we decided to pay it a visit.

Here's how it works: A device is attached to the fence that transmits sounds, specifically, sounds simulating the Feb. 13, 1945, air raid on Dresden — explosions, falling bombs, low-flying aircraft and the like. The interesting thing is that the sounds are completely inaudible unless you lean your elbows on the railing and put your hands over your ears. The sounds are conducted through your bones. Here's a picture of me demonstrating:

It's like there are ghosts trapped in the ironwork. Very creepy. And cool.

You should totally come try it out.

And on a completely unrelated note, several minutes after experiencing the Touched Echo, we saw this:

A Trabi limousine. Awesome.

That is all.



JEM