Are auditory magic tricks possible for a blind audience?

Auditory magic tricks for blind audiences may be harder to create because vision and hearing are processed differently in the brain. The underlying idea is that visual perception gives a more stable “state of the world,” while auditory perception is more transient and tied to events that already occurred. Since magic often depends on manipulating what people believe about the world’s state, sound alone may not create the same perceptual conflict that makes classic visual magic work. Researchers also note that auditory illusions do exist (for example stereo timing effects and the Shepard tone), but a systematic comparison suggests the challenge is deeper than just lacking clever tricks. The team points to the possibility that magicians have rarely targeted audition only, and they launched a competition for sound-only magic, with results expected in November 2024.