Human Echolocation
December 8, 2015 1:13 PM   Subscribe

How Human Echolocation Allows People to See Without Using Their Eyes "Daniel Kish, who lost his vision when he was a year old but has made headlines for climbing mountains, riding bikes and living alone in the wilderness." His case and others like him helped inspire studies into human echolocation, something even sighted people are capable of learning. posted by Michele in California (13 comments total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
I just came across these simulated images of dolphin echolocation today.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 1:22 PM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]


The Smithsonian also did an article on the dolphin echolocation pics. A real quick scan suggests the articles are actually two different articles. So you might enjoy that one too.
posted by Michele in California at 1:27 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


Kish, who’s been dubbed a “real-life Batman,” is able to perform these tasks because of his uncanny ability to “see” by echolocation.
He seems like more of a real-life Daredevil to me.

My daughter has been walking around the house making clicking sounds lately. She says she's using echolocation, but I suspect she's also just trying to annoy her brother.
posted by curiousgene at 2:01 PM on December 8, 2015 [8 favorites]


Daniel Kish was featured in the Invisibilia podcast: scroll down to January 22, 2015 How to Become Batman. His segment starts at about 7:35 in the show, he talks about growing up blind, teaching himself to echolocate, and his current efforts to train other blind people to echolocate. If you put his name into youtube he has made a Ted talk and there's some videos of him riding a bike.
posted by peeedro at 2:47 PM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]


The problem with studies like this is that they don't take into account what echolocation would look (sound) like in a real-life orientation use case.

There's no doubt that people can, to a greater or lesser degree echolocate.

But let's take someone who is practiced at it and include the following factors:

- busy roadway on your left, buildings on your right
- it's rush hour, and the sidewalk is thronged with people - their coats and bodies are absorbing sound
- out on the busy roadway, there's a construction crew operating a jackhammer
- there are potholes in the sidewalk

Now, echolocation is going to be defeated in this scenario. If it's the only orientation and mobility technique you're deploying, it's going to be a problem.

The problem the blind people I know (including my husband) have with Kish is that a.) he's engaging in "inspiration porn" b.) he undermines their attempts to get people to understand the broader context for building an accessible society and c.) creates confusion around the effectiveness of the orientatuon and mobility techniques they use with great success.

tl;dr A cane can keep you from breaking your ankle in a pothole; echolocation won't.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:06 PM on December 8, 2015 [8 favorites]


This guy is the better Daredevil analogue.
posted by robcorr at 4:06 PM on December 8, 2015


I would like to know more about this "computer enhancement" technique...
posted by bird internet at 4:42 PM on December 8, 2015


My daughter has been walking around the house making clicking sounds lately. She says she's using echolocation, but I suspect she's also just trying to annoy her brother.

So, as I walked in the door, I "chirped" at my husband. This is an odd thing we do.

People have described it as both "cute" and "strange." It's not "echolocation" in the sense of imaging an environment. Rather, it's shorthand for "Hey it's me. I'm over here" or "I'm just here, enjoying your company."

It's a cross between a kissy sound and a cluck of the tongue.

Weird, I know.

It's our proxy for exchanging glances as it were, since he can't see. We've done it for going on 17 years. We do it in both public and private. And it's so ingrained we do it without thinking.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:05 PM on December 8, 2015 [13 favorites]


I should also add that there is never an angry chirp. If a chirp is not responded to by one or the other, you are being *glared* at.

The chirp is always schmoopy.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:15 PM on December 8, 2015 [10 favorites]


The TED Talk video also shows other people that he has taught this skill -- and it also shows a guy riding a bike around a series of obstacles. Totally cool.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:24 PM on December 8, 2015


My oldest is not blind but has very serious eyesight issues. As is common among the ASD population, he hears sounds other than the human voice better than the human voice. Calling his name in a public place almost never gets his attention. Snapping my fingers works far better.

Wow, are other humans judgey when I do this.

Perhaps I should try chirping.
posted by Michele in California at 5:25 PM on December 8, 2015 [4 favorites]


My other big beef with Kish is that the media has a field day with people like him. It's less him, and more the media's interpretation of him, but there's a certain element of the world developing an inspiration boner over what he does. It instills ugly stereotypes that I, as a blind person, have to dispel on a daily basis.


Absolutely fucking right. This isn't negative.

The collection of beaten-to-shit white canes we have sitting in our hallway closet is a testament to every obstacle contacted and avoided - and the skill of the user of said canes. We used to have one that was bent in half because it was run over by a car. The user wasn't. It was the buffer.

Any sighted person saying "Hey, you can use echolocation!" is severely misinformed.

Mr. Conspiracy attended a talk by Kish about a year ago, and was fundamentally outraged by the myths and misconceptions he was sowing with the audience around orientation and mobility and accessibility generally.

But yeah, it's not all on Kish, either. It's the inspiration porn angle people take from him.

For anyone who's unaquainted and wondering about "inspiration porn" this post is a great explainer.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:25 PM on December 8, 2015 [7 favorites]


Metafilter: The chirp is always schmoopy.
posted by Combat Wombat at 9:25 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


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