Thermal images are converted to sound, then reconstituted as an image in the form of a spectrogram, a visualization of sound over time.
Thermal cameras are designed to capture radiation in the long-infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum (1000-14000nm), far outside the range of visible light (400-780nm). The duration of the sound is the image’s width, and the sound frequency (Hz) produces the image’s height. The color or intensity of lines along the y-axis represents the amplitude of the frequencies produced. The likeness of these images to our visible-light reality is only seen in the shape of the subjects- the remainder taking on a surreal cave-painting-like quality.