Acta Acustica united with Acustica - 2008, 2010, ...
By Prof. Juan Antonio Mart´inez Rojas et al, Universidad de Alcal´a, Escuela Polit´ecnica Superior
Scholarly investigations of the comparative effectiveness of various human produced echo signals, with reference to our work.
Science, Health, and Research
Getting around by sound: Human echolocation
Neuroanthropology: Diverse Perspectives on Science and Medicine - June, 2011
By Prof. Greg Downey | Macquarie University, Sydney
This is one of the most well considered, researched, and erudite articles about human echolocation, featuring our work and research around it. Takes a refreshing and penetrating anthropological view.
"Human echolocation is a capacity of any human being, but the extraordinary skill shown by exemplary practitioners like Daniel Kish and Ben Underwood requires much more than just a human nervous system and the right training: the skill requires a community that ‘gets it’ and supports the capacity."
"In summary, echolocation isn’t just the conjunction of a human brain, mouth, ears and objects to reflect back sound; it’s also the product of a social group and society that has its own attitudes and approaches to dealing with blindness. At the same time that people like Kish are helping to spread techniques like echolocation to an unprecedented number of individuals, we can see that other social forces might decrease the possibility of achieving this perceptual skill."
By Prof. Greg Downey | Macquarie University, Sydney
This is one of the most well considered, researched, and erudite articles about human echolocation, featuring our work and research around it. Takes a refreshing and penetrating anthropological view.
"Human echolocation is a capacity of any human being, but the extraordinary skill shown by exemplary practitioners like Daniel Kish and Ben Underwood requires much more than just a human nervous system and the right training: the skill requires a community that ‘gets it’ and supports the capacity."
"In summary, echolocation isn’t just the conjunction of a human brain, mouth, ears and objects to reflect back sound; it’s also the product of a social group and society that has its own attitudes and approaches to dealing with blindness. At the same time that people like Kish are helping to spread techniques like echolocation to an unprecedented number of individuals, we can see that other social forces might decrease the possibility of achieving this perceptual skill."
eural Correlates of Natural Human Echolocation in Early and Late Blind Echolocation Experts
PLoS ONE (Public Library of Science) - May, 2011
by Thaler L, Arnott SR, Goodale MA
University, Western Ontario
A small percentage of blind people are adept at echolocating silent objects simply by producing mouth clicks and listening to the returning echoes. The neural architecture underlying this type of human echolocation has not previously been investigated. The functional brain activity of Daniel Kish (early blind) and Brian Bushway (late blind) were measured while they listened to their own echolocation sounds. When brain activity were compared for sounds that contained both clicks and the returning echoes vs. brain activity for control sounds that did not contain the echoes, but were otherwise acoustically matched, activity was found in the visual cortex in both individuals. Importantly, for the same comparison, a difference in activity in auditory cortex was not observed. The activity in Daniel's visual cortex was found to be greater for echoes reflected from surfaces located in contralateral space - the side of the visual cortex opposite to the side at which the sound/echo was presented. These findings suggest that processing of click-echoes recruits brain regions typically devoted to vision rather than audition in both early and late blind echolocation experts, and that the patterns of processing echoes closely resemble those of processing visual input. More articles about this work and related topics can be found on our "Science and Health" and "General News and Press" Pages.
"It is important to emphasize that the use of echolocation in the blind goes well beyond localizing objects in the environment. The experts we studied were also able to use echolocation to perceive object shape and motion – and even object identity. In addition, they were able to use passive listening with 10-kHz cut-off to do these kinds of tasks – which made it possible for us to probe neural substrates of their abilities. ... our data clearly show that EB and LB use echolocation in a way that seems uncannily similar to vision. In this way, our study shows that echolocation can provide blind people with a high degree of independence and self-reliance in their daily life. This has broad practical implications in that echolocation is a trainable skill that can potentially offer powerful and liberating opportunities for blind and vision-impaired people."
by Thaler L, Arnott SR, Goodale MA
University, Western Ontario
A small percentage of blind people are adept at echolocating silent objects simply by producing mouth clicks and listening to the returning echoes. The neural architecture underlying this type of human echolocation has not previously been investigated. The functional brain activity of Daniel Kish (early blind) and Brian Bushway (late blind) were measured while they listened to their own echolocation sounds. When brain activity were compared for sounds that contained both clicks and the returning echoes vs. brain activity for control sounds that did not contain the echoes, but were otherwise acoustically matched, activity was found in the visual cortex in both individuals. Importantly, for the same comparison, a difference in activity in auditory cortex was not observed. The activity in Daniel's visual cortex was found to be greater for echoes reflected from surfaces located in contralateral space - the side of the visual cortex opposite to the side at which the sound/echo was presented. These findings suggest that processing of click-echoes recruits brain regions typically devoted to vision rather than audition in both early and late blind echolocation experts, and that the patterns of processing echoes closely resemble those of processing visual input. More articles about this work and related topics can be found on our "Science and Health" and "General News and Press" Pages.
"It is important to emphasize that the use of echolocation in the blind goes well beyond localizing objects in the environment. The experts we studied were also able to use echolocation to perceive object shape and motion – and even object identity. In addition, they were able to use passive listening with 10-kHz cut-off to do these kinds of tasks – which made it possible for us to probe neural substrates of their abilities. ... our data clearly show that EB and LB use echolocation in a way that seems uncannily similar to vision. In this way, our study shows that echolocation can provide blind people with a high degree of independence and self-reliance in their daily life. This has broad practical implications in that echolocation is a trainable skill that can potentially offer powerful and liberating opportunities for blind and vision-impaired people."
Modern Examinations of Echo Acuity in Blind Humans
Whitney Laboratory for Perception and Action, University of California, Berkeley
This is a series of modern studies in which World Access for the Blind consulted which examine various aspects of the acuity and resolution of echolocation in over a dozen blind humans. Many of our Perceptual Mobility Coaches and students participated.
This is a series of modern studies in which World Access for the Blind consulted which examine various aspects of the acuity and resolution of echolocation in over a dozen blind humans. Many of our Perceptual Mobility Coaches and students participated.
Sonic Echolocation: A Modern Review and Synthesis of the Literature
Daniel Kish - 2003
This scholarly monograph presents an exhaustive review of the literature on human echolocation. These findings are discussed with relevance to the design of a systematic echolocation training program. The positive impact of echolocation on blind travel is thoroughly documented.
This scholarly monograph presents an exhaustive review of the literature on human echolocation. These findings are discussed with relevance to the design of a systematic echolocation training program. The positive impact of echolocation on blind travel is thoroughly documented.
Acoustic Navigation in Premature, Blind Children
Steve Charles, MD - 2004
Charles Retina Institute
In an exclusive to our web site, Dr. Charles, world renowned vitreoretinal surgeon and engineer, documents his observations of young infants spontaneously producing oral signals for the apparent purpose of gaining navigational information.
Charles Retina Institute
In an exclusive to our web site, Dr. Charles, world renowned vitreoretinal surgeon and engineer, documents his observations of young infants spontaneously producing oral signals for the apparent purpose of gaining navigational information.
The Value of FlashSonar
Insight Magazine, United Kingdom - September, 2008
Professor Gordon Dutton, highly reputed Neural Pediatric Ophthalmologist gives his perspective on the positive impact of FlashSonar training on blind children.
Professor Gordon Dutton, highly reputed Neural Pediatric Ophthalmologist gives his perspective on the positive impact of FlashSonar training on blind children.
