Helium Speech

People with growth anomaly, like Jyoti, often have very high pitched voices. It’s a tone of voice that takes some getting used to. And we might have to if we decide to shrink ourselves. In a rather humorous clip from a German TV show we see Lionel Richie sing his famous ballad ‘Hello’ after he inhaled helium gas. It’s a trick most people are familiar with. Because helium is six times lighter than air it gives your voice a much higher timbre. The effect is often perceived as funny. It might also be a relatively acurate way of predicting what our voices sound like if we shrink.

During the Urban Explorers Festival we opened a helium bar where visitors are allowed to acquaint themselves with their voice of the future. Some even sang us a song.