[nfb-talk] sonar for blind

[Mike Freeman]

I am moved to wonder why tapping a cane wouldn't work as well. On the other hand, these kids may just be in process of converting to the metric system. Remember when we used to hear Army or Marine troops in Vietnam saying they'd seen a company of VC or NVA "a couple of klicks away!"? (grin)

Mike

On Jun 28, 2011, at 10:12, "Michael Bullis" <bullis.michael at gmail.com> wrote:

> As I have indicated in other articles, I think we disparage this kind of
> thing far too quickly.  It works very well for detecting objects at quite a
> distance.  No, I don't want to click my way into a job interview, but, at
> the same time, the skill is useful in its propper place.
> Mike Bullis
> Baltimore MD
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of T. Joseph Carter
> Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 12:49 PM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] sonar for blind
> 
> Why do parents encourage this kind of thing, really?  *sigh*
> 
> Joseph
> 
> On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 11:33:46AM -0400, Ed Meskys wrote:
>> The Growing Success of Seeing With Sound
>> from Spiegel
>> 
>> Two-and-a-half-year-old Juli merrily twirls around, holding a small white
> cane in her outstretched arm. Every so often, she makes a discreet clicking
> sound with her tongue. Doing so allows her to see with her ears, her parents
> say. She just needs more practice.
>> 
>> Four-and-a-half-year-old Frida already knows how it works. If someone holds
> out a pot lid at arm's length, she can locate it with a fair degree of
> precision. Using subtle tongue clicks, she scans the space in front of her
> face. "There it is!" she says. With a few more clicks, she can even
> determine the contours of the lid. The edge lies where the echo cuts off and
> she no longer hears a response.
>> 
>> The two girls are learning a method of echolocation known as "flash sonar,"
> which resembles the type of active sonar used by bats. Both were born blind
> in Berlin, and both have parents who want to spare them from the typical
> life of a blind person.
>> 
>> http://ow.ly/5rV9d
>> 
>> 
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