Saturday, July 12, 2025
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries Support Us
You are viewing: Home > News > Science & Technology > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

Science & Technology

Can humans 'see' using echolocation ?

By T.K. Randall
August 3, 2013 · Comment icon 16 comments

Image Credit: sxc.hu
A team of researchers has developed an echolocation system that could enable a person to see using sound.
In the natural world echolocation is used by animals such as bats and dolphins as a way to locate and identify objects around them. Researcher Ivan Dokmanic and his team in Switzerland have been putting this idea to use in a computer-based echolocation system in the hope of using sound to 'see' the layout of a room. The setup uses a series of microphones and a computer that can pick up any sounds and then determine from that what the shape of the room is.

Dokmanic and his team hope that the technology could eventually be used by blind people to help them pick up more information about their surroundings. "I hope not too long - but the realistic horizon is two years to get something that's really usable by everyone," he said.
Birds do it. Bats do it. Now even educated people do it. Echolocation is the process used by certain animals to identify what lies ahead of them, by emitting sounds that bounce off objects.


Source: NPR | Comments (16)

Tags:


Other news and articles

Recent stories:

Did the Knights Templar hide Jesus' bones in North America?
7-12-2025
New mission to Venus aims to hunt down alien life in the planet's clouds
7-11-2025
New 'Storm Area 51' documentary coming to Netflix this month
7-11-2025
Mountain lion Possible mountain lion filmed outside home in Rochester, New York
7-10-2025
Peter Jackson Peter Jackson is helping to resurrect a species of giant extinct bird
7-10-2025
Lighthouse of Alexandria Part of the Lighthouse of Alexandria has been raised from the seabed
7-9-2025
<< Previous story
Can a dead person be revived after 24 hours?
Next story >>
Baboon mass hysteria baffles zoo workers
Our latest videos Visit us on YouTube
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #7 Posted by Elfin 12 years ago
ah. ok. it's easy enough for a blind person to "see" inside their own homes, they build very sophisticated mental maps in their minds of where everything is, but a sighted person trying to move around their house in the dark will spend most of their time bumping into stuff and cursing the gods! the guy in question wasn't blind from birth, but developed blindness, and downhill racing was a passion of his. when he was no longer able to continue, this naturally depressed him until a team of scientists came up with the system (it was very rudimentary- it fitted onto a pair of glasses and sent out ... [More]
Comment icon #8 Posted by Rolci 12 years ago
Tech is not necessary if you're used to doing it. Quite correct. For those that are not aware, there are people who use echolocation at a masterful level in their everyday lives for orientation and judging the position of nearby and even remote objects. Anyone can learn it. Like "the boy who sees without eyes" on Extraordinary People. Nothing new to see here people, it's all been done before.
Comment icon #9 Posted by shrooma 12 years ago
Sounds like a really good development then. . if it improves the quality of life for the blind, it can only be a good thing! . It works by clicking the tongue. It's possible to get an idea of one's surroundings up to about 10 metres. . with the ears & throat being connected, wouldn't clicking the fingers work better? it might negate the possibility of masking/feedback and make the system a little more sensitive....?
Comment icon #10 Posted by Elfin 12 years ago
. with the ears & throat being connected, wouldn't clicking the fingers work better? it might negate the possibility of masking/feedback and make the system a little more sensitive....? No the tongue definitely works best.
Comment icon #11 Posted by Mbyte 12 years ago
We can do this already!! We don't need technology to do it for us. Three blind people have learned to do this already. My theory is that we have to be aware that we can do it and then activly practice trying to do it. Then eventually the unconscious parts of our mind will eventually notice the reacurring patterns in sound and will develop a type of mapping. I've seriously considered trying to do it and blog about it
Comment icon #12 Posted by Elfin 12 years ago
We can do this already!! We don't need technology to do it for us. Three blind people have learned to do this already. My theory is that we have to be aware that we can do it and then activly practice trying to do it. Then eventually the unconscious parts of our mind will eventually notice the reacurring patterns in sound and will develop a type of mapping. I've seriously considered trying to do it and blog about it Not just three. Almost everyone who is born blind does this. It is something that comes naturally.
Comment icon #13 Posted by Mbyte 12 years ago
Not just three. Almost everyone who is born blind does this. It is something that comes naturally. Well maybe so but obviously science doesn't know this because we wouldn't be developing technology to do this for us then
Comment icon #14 Posted by SkepticalB 12 years ago
Or the technology is being developed for people who weren't born blind but become blind later. Or it makes the ecco location sharper
Comment icon #15 Posted by Elfin 12 years ago
Or the technology is being developed for people who weren't born blind but become blind later. Or it makes the ecco location sharper Yes, that's exactly right.
Comment icon #16 Posted by Wickian 12 years ago
I remember watching a documentary about blind people riding bikes and such by using echolocation. I can't remember the details, but they mainly used hand-held clickers so they wouldn't have to occupy their mouths and could tell if they were near an object or not. With a bit of familiarity with the area and common sense they could identify trees, walls, bushes, people and such. It's probably some genetic remnant our bodies have kept just in case we ever need to use it again.
 Click here to view all 16 comments on this story    


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Top 10 trending mysteries
This week
This month
All time
- 1. Orb
2. Stanton Friedman
3. Bigfoot
4. Electronic Voice Phenomenon
5. Paranormal
6. Roswell Incident
- 7. Pareidolia
8. Spirit Photography (Classic)
- 9. Phoenix Lights
10. Storm Area 51
View More
Recent news and articles
Archaeology & History

Did the Knights Templar hide Jesus' bones in North America?

7-12-2025 | 1
Extraterrestrial

New mission to Venus aims to hunt down alien life in the planet's clouds

7-11-2025 | 0
World of the Bizarre

New 'Storm Area 51' documentary coming to Netflix this month

 VIDEO  7-11-2025 | 2
Mountain lion
Nature & Environment

Possible mountain lion filmed outside home in Rochester, New York

 VIDEO  7-10-2025 | 4
Peter Jackson
Palaeontology

Peter Jackson is helping to resurrect a species of giant extinct bird

 VIDEO  7-10-2025 | 2
Lighthouse of Alexandria
Archaeology & History

Part of the Lighthouse of Alexandria has been raised from the seabed

7-9-2025 | 3
View More News