Converts Images to Sounds by mapping each pixel to a unique frequency using a Hilbert Curve, and then making each frequency have an amplitude equal to that pixel's brightness.
For more details about how this works, it was inspired by this 3Blue1Brown video. It explains everything better than I possibly could.
The position of each pixel is encoded by a unique frequency. Nearby frequencies refer to nearby pixels, though not all nearby pixels are given nearby frequencies. As a result, position is easy to hear.
The difference between a circle and a square is a lot more subtle, but it is noticible, especially in the bottom left corner where the frequencies are lower and easier to distinguish. With practice, you can hear the distinction in other locations as well.
It can even distinguish between similar letters such as U and V
And finally, just for fun, here's a lion
To download, click on the "Code" button and choose "Download ZIP." You can then extract it in your Downloads folder.
To run the program, you must have Python 3, pyaudio, numpy, and opencv installed on your system.
First, install python. Python is the programming language this program is written in. To install it, simply go to https://www.python.org/ and download the latest version. Go through the installer, and make sure the check the "Add Python to PATH" option on the first page, as that will make some things easier later on.
Next, you need to install Anaconda. Anaconda is a program that will enable you to install the other prerequisites. To install it, got to https://www.anaconda.com/products/individual#windows and download the Anaconda Individual Edition. Once that's complete, open the start menu and search for the Anaconda Prompt.
The next thing you need to install is numpy. Numpy is a python library, or a program that extends pythons capabilities. In this case, I'm using it to be able to process long lists of hundreds or thousands of frequencies much faster than would otherwise be possible. To install it, in the Anaconda Prompt, enter
conda install numpy
The next step is to install PyAudio. PyAudio is a python library that enables you to play audio files while the program is running. To install it, in the Anaconda Prompt, enter
conda install pyaudio
Finally, we need opencv, a python library that lets you read and write to image files.
conda install opencv
Once all that is done, still in the Anaconda Prompt, go to the folder where the Image2Sound.py file is downloaded. The cd command lets you change your directory. Thus, if you downloaded the Image2Sound folder leaving everything in its default path, you just need to enter in the Anaconda Prompt
cd C:/Users/USERNAME/Downloads/Image2Sound-main/Image2Sound-main/
Finally, you can run the program by typing python Default.py.
First, check if python is installed. Open the terminal (usually CTRL+ALT+T or SUPER+T) and enter python3 --version. If it says something like command not found, then you need to install python. Otherwise, you're good.
To install python, if you're on a Debian based distrobution (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Pop! OS etc.), enter
sudo apt-get install python3
If you're on an Arch based distrobution (Arch, Manjaro, etc.)
sudo pacman -Syu python3
If you're on a Red Hat based distrobution (Red Hat, Cent OS, Fedora, etc.)
sudo yum install python3
Next, to install the python libraries, we'll install pip. Check if it's already installed by entering pip --version. If it gives you a version, you can skip this step. Otherwise, install it via
Debian: sudo apt install python3-pip
Arch: sudo pacman -S python-pip
Red Hat: sudo yum install epel-release and then sudo yum install python-pip
Finally, install the python libraries
pip install numpy
pip install pyaudio
pip install opencv-python
At last, to run Image2Sound.py, go to that folder in the terminal: cd /home/USERNAME/Downloads/Image2Sound-main/ and run the program python3 Default.py.
HilbertNumpy.py and Image2Sound.py are the files that do all the work and can be left pretty much alone, but the rest are meant for you to explore and change. Default.py is a good place to start as it's set up the most simple and has a bunch of comments explaining each setting you can change. ShapeCrawl.py and ShapeMarch.py use slightly more advanced code to create multiple audio files at once. It's recommended that you start with Default.py to learn the settings and how to use Image2Sound and then checking out the others to see how you can generate multiple files at once.
To run any of the programs, open the terminal in Linux or the Anaconda Prompt in Windows, navigate to the directory where the python file is (using cd to change your directory), and run the program with python Default.py (you may need to do python3 Default.py instead on Linux). Each program (except HilbertNumpy.py and Image2Sound.py) is already fully set up and will produce a sound, but in order to change what image you want to listen to, you'll have to edit the code.
In Windows, right click on the program and choose "Edit in IDLE." In Linux, simply open up the file in a text editor. For Default.py, read through the How to Use section to understand what all the settings do. Once you're done making the desired changes, save the file and run it in the terminal.
Note, on Windows, there's a way to run the program in IDLE. However, because of how the python libraries were set up, this will probably NOT work. I burst enough brain cells just trying to figure out how to get everything working in Windows, so I don't feel like trying to figure out how to do it right so that it'll work running it in IDLE. If you know how to do it, feel free to send a pull request to change this ReadMe with the instructions.