Superhuman Senses - Extending Human Perception through Technology
TL;DR
Humans have five primary senses, but animals show us many more
Technology can extend our perception to magnetism, echolocation, ultraviolet, and beyond
Early applications include navigation, accessibility, and creative design
The challenges are less about what is possible, and more about what is meaningful
This article continues the Human–Computer Interaction sensory series, following earlier explorations of touch, sound, vision, smell, and taste.
In Antarctica last year, I watched a humpback rise beside an ice floe, exhale in a plume of steam, then angle its body just enough to clear the ice and slip sideways through a channel that looked far too narrow. It did not pause or slow. The whale already knew the way.
Months later, in Alaska’s Inside Passage, I saw the same certainty as whales surfaced and threaded through narrow islands. Many of them had likely made that same migration, thousands of miles across the open ocean, guided by senses we cannot share.
We rely on instruments and technology: charts, compasses, GPS, and sonar. Whales rely on physical senses we don’t have, the ability to hear across vast distances, and to detect the Earth’s magnetic field.
Birds follow the planet’s magnetism. Bats map their surroundings in echoes. Bees see ultraviolet patterns hidden in flowers. Humans are beginning to do the same through devices like the FeelSpace Belt, sonar bands, and UV cameras.
We share the same world, but not the same perception. Technology is beginning to change that.
What Is Superhuman Sensing?
“Superhuman” sensing means perceiving signals that surround us but fall outside the normal human range. On our own, we cannot perceive them without help.
Technology has been extending perception for centuries: eyeglasses, telescopes, and microphones. What is different now is the scale of integration. These systems and tools are no longer the domain of large organizations or academic institutions. They are worn continuously, sometimes implanted, and increasingly designed to merge seamlessly with the way we sense the world.
Even in humans, the five-sense model is incomplete. We rely on balance, body awareness, and internal sensing every day. Animals extend this further, with abilities that challenge what “human–computer interaction” might eventually mean. Sharks detect faint electrical fields, bats navigate using echoes, bees see ultraviolet light, whales may combine acoustic communication with sensitivity to the Earth’s magnetic field.
Technology is beginning to bridge this gap. Magnetic belts vibrate when you face north. Cameras shift invisible wavelengths into visible colors. Some devices turn echoes into gentle vibrations you can feel on the skin.
Some technologies restore what is lost, such as cochlear implants that bring back hearing. Others add entirely new capabilities, giving people access to information they would never otherwise detect.
Current Applications
Researchers and designers are experimenting with ways to make invisible or inaudible signals perceptible:
FeelSpace Belt: a wearable with 30 vibration motors around the waist. When the wearer faces north, the front motor activates. Turn, and the vibration shifts accordingly. In trials, participants reported that after weeks of continuous use, the buzzing faded into the background and was replaced by an intuitive sense of direction.
North Sense implant: a subdermal device that buzzes whenever the wearer faces north, creating a continuous sense in the body. Users described the feeling as “always knowing where north is,” more like background knowledge than constant distraction.
Sunu Band: a wrist-worn sonar device that translates echoes into vibrations, helping people with low vision detect obstacles they cannot hear unaided. For one student with low vision, it meant moving across campus independently for the first time.
Human echolocation: Daniel Kish, who is blind, uses tongue clicks to interpret echoes and navigate environments. He describes the echoes as flashes of spatial awareness: the hollow of a hallway, the edge of a parked car, the outline of a tree, mapped not in sight but in sound.
UV and IR cameras: devices that reveal invisible wavelengths by converting them into visible color, used in scientific research and available in some consumer tools.
Cross-modal interfaces: systems that convert one type of signal into another, such as sound into vibration or light into tone.
Together, these examples show how technology is translating signals from the natural world into new forms of perception. The table below summarizes how animal models, devices, and everyday benefits align.
Examples of Senses in other animals
| Sense Extended | Animal Model | Technology Example | Everyday Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magnetism | Birds, whales | FeelSpace Belt, North Sense | Natural orientation/navigation |
| Echolocation | Bats, dolphins | Sunu Band, Human echolocation | Obstacle detection for low vision |
| Ultraviolet | Bees | UV cameras, artistic lenses | Art, design, scientific imaging |
| Infrared | Snakes | IR cameras, thermal sensors | Safety, night vision, hazard detection |
| Electroreception | Sharks | Research instruments | Detecting electrical fields, safety alerts |
Use Cases
Extending perception opens up possibilities across fields:
Navigation: sensing direction through subtle vibrations or magnetic cues, making orientation more natural.
Safety: detecting radiation, toxins, or electrical fields before they cause harm.
Accessibility: creating alternative pathways for people with sensory impairments to engage with the world.
Creativity: artists and designers working with ultraviolet pigments invisible to the naked eye, creating experiences others cannot perceive unaided.
Science and exploration: helping researchers perceive data streams in real time, or astronauts orient in environments without familiar cues.
The common thread is not capability alone, but the way these technologies reshape how people experience their surroundings.
Challenges and Risks
Adding new senses is not only a technical problem. It raises questions of meaning, equity, and trust.
Cognitive load: Our brains already filter constant streams of information. If a wristband buzzed every time you faced north, would it improve your orientation, or distract you during a conversation?
Integration: Human perception evolved within certain limits. Signals like magnetism or ultrasound may not fit easily into the way our brains process the world.
Equity: If extended senses are packaged as premium devices, who gets access to a richer perception of reality, and who is left out?
Cultural impact: When technology reveals signals we cannot perceive unaided, how might that change what we value in experience, art, or truth?
Ethical misuse: Tools that let people sense what is hidden could also be turned outward, toward surveillance, manipulation, or control.
Design Principles for Intuitive Augmentation
Subtle over constant: favor occasional cues over continuous buzzing or flashing
User control: allow people to adjust or disable signals
Context awareness: alerts should adapt to setting, loud in emergencies, quiet in daily use
Transparency: be clear about what data is collected, how it is used, and who owns it
These principles keep augmentation aligned with HCI values: enhancing human flow, not interrupting it.
Systems and Equity Implications
Extending perception is not just a matter of personal curiosity. It will also carry organizational and societal consequences.
In workplaces, enhanced senses could be positioned as tools for safety or productivity. A warehouse worker might wear a device that vibrates when approaching a hazard. A field engineer could detect radiation or electrical fields before instruments confirm it.
These applications have value, but they also raise questions of control. Would employees have a choice, or would augmentation be expected as part of the job?
Imagine a logistics company that equips workers with navigation belts to improve safety. The same orientation and movement data is logged by the employer. Over time, it is used to monitor productivity and predict “inefficient” behavior. What began as a helpful sense becomes a surveillance tool, raising questions about consent, ownership, and trust.
It isn’t hard to imagine a divide: some people equipped with richer perception, others left without.
For leaders, the challenge is not simply evaluating technical feasibility. It is ensuring that extended perception enhances human capability without eroding dignity, choice, or fairness.
Future Trends
Over the next five to ten years, superhuman sensing will likely move from experiment to application.
Wearables first: discreet devices that extend perception without permanent change, like bands that track direction or glasses that reveal new spectra.
Assistive technology: tools designed for accessibility may lead adoption, offering new ways for people to navigate or interact.
Creative fields: artists, musicians, and designers will explore what new senses can mean for expression.
Scientific exploration: researchers and astronauts may use extended perception in environments where human senses alone are not enough.
Beyond that horizon, augmentation may shift from external devices to implants that feel seamless. The convergence of multiple new senses could change not only how we experience technology, but how we experience the world itself.
Closing Reflection
Extending our senses is not just about perceiving more. It is about deciding what kind of perception we want to cultivate.
Whales travel thousands of miles between Antarctica and Alaska, guided by sound and magnetism. These cues are all around us, but without help we cannot sense them. What whales do naturally, we can only approximate with instruments and devices.
New capabilities can bring safety, creativity, and accessibility. They can also bring distraction, inequality, and new forms of control.
For designers and leaders, the real choice isn’t technical. It’s cultural and ethical. Which doors are worth walking through, and which are better left closed?
Questions to Consider
Does this augmentation reduce or increase cognitive load?
Who controls the data from these new senses?
Will this enhance human dignity, or erode it?
What sense would you choose to extend, and why?
Further Reading
“The Future of Human Augmentation” by Warwick & Shah (2014) – A review of early experiments in implants and extended perception, written by pioneers in cybernetics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
“Magnetic Compass Sense in Humans?” by Luksch et al. (2020) – Controlled study exploring whether people can detect weak magnetic fields and how technology might amplify this ability. Nature Communications.
“Echolocation by People Who Are Blind” by Thaler & Goodale (2016) – Research on how individuals use echoes for navigation, offering insight into how technology could enhance or extend this skill. Journal of Neurophysiology.
“Designing New Senses: Translating Data into Experience” by Zelek & Branje (2018) – Survey of devices that convert non-visual inputs into tactile or auditory signals, bridging data and perception. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing.
“Augmented Perception in Creative Practice” by Howes (2023) – A look at artists experimenting with ultraviolet, magnetic, and data-driven senses as new mediums for expression. Leonardo Journal of Arts, Sciences, and Technology.
