Bats use their ears as radars to receive sonic waves that help them navigate in the dark. The same method of echolocation has been pioneered to help blind children and adults to maneuver their movements. Visually impaired people are believed to be gifted with stronger hearing faculty. Visually challenged children are being trained in Glasgow to emit sound waves by clicking their tongues and form detailed images of objects in their minds by analyzing the sound of the echo.
The technique of echolocation has become very popular among the visually impaired people. Despite of lack of any scientific evidence the efficacy of the method can be gauged by the ease it has given to blind men like Dan Kish of USA, who runs a nonprofit organization, World Access for the Blind. Kish can ride a bicycle on a busy road and can distinguish between different types of fruits hanging on the trees by clicking his tongue.
By interpreting the time it takes for the echo to travel back, the ear it hits first, its intensity and its pitch the visually challenged can determine the distance, position, size and direction of movement of an object. This is a unique method by which by studying the laws of nature one can overcome physical challenges.
Source:Times Online
Image:Blesser
