The sensory substitution system includes a portable matrix of exciters that can be worn by a user in such a way that the exciters are placed against the skin of a user, as well as a control circuit for the exciters of the matrix. An asynchronous signal source provides the control circuit with an asynchronous signal representative of visual information organised according to a matrix of pixels. This asynchronous signal includes, for each pixel, successive events associated in an asynchronous manner with the pixel.