[nfb-talk] British using sound to assist the blind

Mon Feb 11 10:08:31 CST 2008

That's a great idea. Of course, you could always run around with one of 
those annoying little clickers like the ones Freedom Scientific was giving 
away at convention a few years ago. That might do the trick.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 9:38 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] British using sound to assist the blind

Sherri,

I think many of us used these techniques when we were kids and were 
discouraged from using it because it was seen as socially unacceptable.  As 
adults, we find
other, less apparent ways to do the same thing as you indicated with the 
snapping of your fingers.  I frankly agree that if I were to click with my 
tongue as I did when
I was a kid that it would certainly seem strange to others, however I have 
felt that there should be a way to create a very small electronic sound 
source that could fill
the bill while perhaps being even more effective and acceptable.

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:36:24 -0500, Sherri wrote:

>Does anyone use a similar technique for echolocation as mentioned in the 
>below article? I sometimes will quietly snap my fingers if I am trying to 
>locate where an
object is and that helps. To me, it's interesting that as blind people, we 
have developed techniques that are now being taught by people who think 
they've
discovered some great idea that has never been tried before.
>
>Sherri
>
>
>  From The Sunday Times
>
>February 10, 2008
>
>Blind taught to see like a bat
>
>Mark Macaskill
>
>BLIND British children are to be taught a pioneering bat-style echolocation 
>technique to visualise their surroundings.
>
>The children are learning how to build up detailed images of the world 
>around them by clicking their tongue and interpreting the sound as it 
>echoes back.
>
>The technique is used by animals such as bats, dolphins and whales to 
>navigate and hunt in the dark.
>
>Bats are able to manoeuvre around caves and catch tiny insects on the wing 
>by emitting short bursts of high-pitched noise and reading the sound waves 
>as
>they bounce back to their highly evolved ears.
>
>There is emerging evidence that blind people can harness their sense of 
>hearing  which is often more acute  to interpret reflected sound and 
>create detailed
>mental images of their surroundings, including the distance, size and 
>density of objects.
>
>The technique is being piloted in Glasgow, where 10 children aged five to 
>17 are being taught by staff from Visibility, one of the citys oldest 
>charities
>for the blind. The children are learning how to make the clicking sound and 
>how to use the technique even in noisy urban areas, including the 
>underground
>system.
>
>Blind people in America, where human echolocation was pioneered, have 
>learnt to differentiate between people, trees, buildings and parked cars by 
>interpreting
>the pitch and timbre of the echo they produce. Practitioners say they can 
>determine the height, density and shape of objects up to 100ft away.
>
>People using echolocation can determine the distance they are from an 
>object by the length of time it takes for the sound to travel back. Its 
>position can
>be established by whether the echo hits the left or right ear first. The 
>size of an object can be determined by the intensity of the echo. A smaller 
>object
>reflects less of the sound wave. The objects direction of movement can be 
>established by the pitch of the echo, which is lower if it is moving away 
>from
>the source.
>
>Echolocation has been endorsed by Professor Gordon Dutton, one of Britains 
>leading paediatric ophthalmologists, who wants the technique to be taught 
>to
>blind and visually impaired people across the country. There are about 
>385,000 registered blind and partially sighted people in Britain.
>
>
Its very exciting,
 said Dutton, of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children 
>in Glasgow. 
I have seen echolocation being used  its quite stunning. It 
>has
>been demonstrated to me that it absolutely works.
>
>
Of course there will be scepticism and doubt but the benefits are without 
>question. It will make a massive difference to the lives of blind and 
>visually
>impaired people.

>
>The project in Glasgow follows a visit last year by Dan Kish, a 41-year-old 
>blind man from California, who pioneered the technique. Kish, who runs the 
>not-for-profit
>organisation World Access for the Blind, has also been commissioned by the 
>charity Common Sense to present his method to the families of blind people 
>in
>Poole, Dorset.
>
>His command of the technique is such that he can ride a bicycle on public 
>roads and distinguish between different types of fruit on trees merely by 
>clicking
>his tongue. A video on the website YouTube shows Kish and a number of his 
>friends demonstrating their skills.
>
>Ben Underwood, a teenager who lost his sight when he was three, has also 
>become a celebrity in America because of his ability to use echolocation to 
>ride
>a bike and to go skateboarding.
>
>Although there have been no scientific studies of echolocation, supporters 
>say it can hugely improve the lives of blind and partially sighted 
>children.
>
>While using a cane allows blind people to identify obstacles in their path, 
>echolocation is said to provide 360-degree 
vision
 and can give them far 
>greater
>freedom.
>
>
Its a type of seeing in its own right, which probably uses similar brain 
>imaging mechanisms to eyesight,
 Kish said.
>
>
Students almost invariably become more confident, move faster and 
>participate in more activities,
 he continued. 
They show improved posture 
>and regard
>themselves as more able to direct themselves through their environment with 
>less need for others.
>
>
They are freer, and better able to choose the quality of life they wish to 
>achieve, rather than have this chosen for them.

>
>Fiona Sandford, chief executive of Visibility, added: 
This is a pioneering 
>technique that will transform the lives of young blind children.
>
>
We have trained four visually impaired adults and they are now using their 
>skills to train children. We hope to roll this out to adults. I have seen 
>it
>being used and it works.

>
>Belgiums federal police use a unit of blind officers specifically for 
>their acute sense of hearing, in analysing phone taps and bugged 
>conversations in
>investigations of terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime.
>
>The detectives can separate the voices of different speakers and pick up 
>sonic clues such as whether a suspect is in a railway station or a 
>restaurant or
>whether the caller is using a land-line or mobile phone. Some officers have 
>even identified the make of car suspects are using.
>
>A detective in Antwerp, Sacha van Loo, 36, who is trained in echolocation, 
>correctly identified a drug smuggler as Albanian from his accent when 
>sighted
>colleagues thought the man was Moroccan.
>
>Hollywood has also depicted the heightened senses of the blind. In the 2003 
>film Dare-devil, Ben Affleck plays a New York lawyer, blinded in childhood,
>who transforms himself into a masked crime-busting superhero by night, 
>using his acute hearing as a 
radar sense
 to 
see
 through the dark.
>
>
>
>
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