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

[Steve Jacobson]

Unless you're on carpet or in a crowd.  <smile>

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:32:52 -0500, seville allen wrote:

>Tapping a cane is quite acceptable; the tip provides echolocation.  

>-----Original Message-----
>From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>Behalf Of Steve Jacobson
>Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 9:38 AM
>To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>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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