The EMOTI-CHAIR is a sensory-substitution technology designed to provide greater access to music for all people.  This is accomplished by converting sound into vibrotactile information that is displayed along the back. The basic design, referred to as the model human cochlea, presents discrete bands of frequency as independent points of vibration, allowing for spatiotemporal encoding of the incoming auditory signal. The back is thus treated as a basilar membrane, complete with its own tonotopic map, oriented vertically so as to align with common conceptions of pitch height. When this dynamic vibrotactile information is accompanied by congruent visual information (from a performance or through music visualization), deaf listeners appear to experience structural and emotional aspects of music in a manner that resembles the experience of hearing listeners. The experience for hearing listeners is best described as immersive.