Full Frame: Clicking a Path

“Echolocation” is a technique used by some blind people to navigate their world. The technique involves producing “clicking” noises with the tongue that bounce off objects in the environment and helps the visually-impaired create a mental image of where these objects are located. It’s the same “sonar” technique that is used in nature by bats, dolphins and porpoises to navigate a path. A new study recently published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, found that blind people who have mastered echolocation can identify objects with a high rate of accuracy by listening for echoes of their mouth clicks and that they subconsciously make subtle changes to their clicking patterns depending on the object’s location. One of the key findings of the study was that expert echolocators instinctively increase the intensity and frequency of their clicks when an object is off to the side or behind them. Research has also shown that echolocation can provide very specific detail about the objects that the clicks echo off of – including shape, size, distance, and even the material the objects are made from. The technique has not been well-studied and the insights of the new British study, which was carried out at Durham University, can help refine methods for training visually-impaired people to use echolocation. But the technique is not without its critics, who say that the clicking noise is distracting and can bring negative attention to a blind person in public. Full Frame’s Sandra Hughes spent the day with Brian Bushway, a perceptual navigation instructor with World Access for the Blind, and his young echolocation trainee as they “sonified” the world around them. Watch CGTN LIVE on your computer, tablet or mobile http://america.cgtn.com/livenews Subscribe to CGTN America on YouTube Follow CGTN America: Twitter: @cgtnamerica Facebook: @cgtnamerica Google+: CctvamericaTvnews »» Watch CGTN «« Washington, DC (and greater area) • MHz - Channel 3 • COMCAST (Xfinity) - Channel 273 • FIOS - Channel 277 New York City • Time Warner - Channel 134 • FiOS (Verizon) - Channel 277 Los Angeles • Charter Cable - Channel 562 • Time Warner - Channel 155 Satellite Nationwide • DISH TV - Channel 279