Re: Bat Man - Ecolocation as a travel tool

["Steve Jacobson" <sojacobson@mmm.com>]

Using echolocation isn't new, many of us use it to one degree or another.  One of the problems is that you have to have 
a sound source.  When I was growing up, it was common for those of us at the school for the blind to click with our 
tongues as a sound source, but this was considered socially inappropriate.  However, other sound sources that are not 
as noticeable also work such as snapping one's fingers, or the sound made by the cane tip contacting the ground.  The 
sound made by a bicycle chain as it moves provides a pretty good sound source for echolocation, especially on 
multispeed bikes.  I rode a bike in this manner some when I was growing up, but I wouldn't recommend it in general other 
than to prove one can do it.  For one thing, it is pretty hard to hear people as they move in front of you, and low objects 
are hard to detect.  In other words, it isn't a solution to our transportation problems.  I do believe, though, that 
echolocation is a technique that is not utilized to the degree that it could be  as a travel technique.

On Wed, 09 Aug 2000 23:15:32 -0700, Fred Chambers wrote:

>
>
>
>Hi People,
>
>Anyone know Dan Kish?  Did anyone catch this week's Ripley's Believe It Or 
>Not?  He was on it.
>
>A family member alerted me to the segment about a young blind guy who is 
>using echolocation along with his white cane for navigation.  I'm not 
>really sure what he was using, or doing, but he was apparently riding a 
>bike at the end of the piece.  A funny comment said something like, "It is 
>not illegal for the blind to ride bicycles."
>
>It seems like he has developed a new mobility technique.  How come he 
>wasn't in Atlanta?  Is this real?  What do you know?  Whaddya think?
>
>Fred
>The link and a blurb about it follows:
>
>http://tbssuperstation.com/tv/ripleys/html/episodeguide.htm
>
>Bat Man -
>
>Dan Kish is legally blind, but by using a technique called echolocation he 
>gives himself added mobility and can even ride a bike. Echolocation is also 
>known as sonar and it allows people to perceive objects from a distance by 
>bouncing sounds off of them. It is used by bats to navigate and to hunt 
>bugs in the dark. Dan creates an echo by making clicking noises with his 
>tongue or clicker, and the echo helps tell the size and location of objects 
>around him. He is teaching others how to use this technique as well.
>
>
>
>--
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>


Steve Jacobson
E-mail:  sojacobson@mmm.com
National Federation of the Blind

The Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the 3M Company




--
This mailing list is sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind, NFB.
To view or search an archive of messages for this list, go to:  http://www.nfbnet.org
For more information about the NfB, please call (410) 659-9314, point your
internet browser to http://www.nfb.org or Telnet to nfbnet.org.