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Sonar device Helps Blind Navigate

Posted by Hemos on from the interesting-applications dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "The Courier-Journal in Louisville is running a story today about a new handheld sonar device that lets blind people "see" by hearing. It gives audio feedback that changes in pitch according to the distance of objects. The story begins... "Fred Gissoni, who has been blind since birth, was using a hand-held sonar device to examine his back yard when a bird landed on a wire. The device began emitting tones, and Gissoni could tell where the bird was and how it moved. He even noticed the quivering of the wire.""

17 comments

  1. This has potential by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Probably this device could be adopted so that the blind editors can stop posting dupes. Another FP from mode-n. lol

  2. Deary me...Standards are going down... by sepluv · · Score: 1
    Sonar device Helps Blind Navigate
    Deary me...Standards are going down...the Navy must be able to find some sighted people to navigate their subs (or maybe the sighted people cannot stand the awful pay, conditions and clostrophobia)...Oh wait...sorry should've read the article...
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  3. Inevitable minaturization, etc... by Shag · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Presumably at some point this will be miniaturized to the point that it can be built into something the size of a couple hearing aids, or at worst a pair of headphones? It could be useful not just for the blind and vision-impaired, but also for people who have to work in dark or opaque environments (off the top of my head, fire rescue in thick smoke, etc).

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    Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
    1. Re:Inevitable minaturization, etc... by bcattwoo · · Score: 1
      It could be useful not just for the blind and vision-impaired, but also for people who have to work in dark or opaque environments (off the top of my head, fire rescue in thick smoke, etc)

      For people who still have their sense of sight, the more sensible approach (no pun intended) would probably be to use visual feedback instead.

    2. Re:Inevitable minaturization, etc... by Shag · · Score: 1

      I suppose so, with a little heads-up display or something. Though I've got 20/20 vision or close to it, and I'm quite accustomed to using aural cues to determine the location of things I can't readily get a visual on.

      But then, I'm a birdwatcher... YMMV.

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      Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
    3. Re:Inevitable minaturization, etc... by chadjg · · Score: 1

      off the top of my head, fire rescue in thick smoke

      From my small experience that particular application wouldn't be especially useful, as you usually can't hear a damn thing between machinery noises, air flow hissing, and the fire noises. It might be useful in industrial firefighting, or working in tunnels & the like, maybe.

      A lot of work is being done to miniturize IR cameras and displays, and that has obvious extra benefits over an ultrasound ranging device, regardless of how it's data is displayed.

      I'd like to get a hold of one of these things, just for fun. It's an idea with huge potential.

      --
      Why do I have this? I don't smoke.
  4. *ping* by LordPhantom · · Score: 0

    Great! *ping* damn...where's that coming from *ping* .... it's that blind guy over there - he's looking at me! *ping*

  5. I've seen these by Naikrovek · · Score: 4, Interesting

    when I lived in Australia I was on a commuter train from Campbelltown to Sydney and I noticed a guy get on somewhere along the way and use a device like this to find an empty seat. he had gauze patches over both eyes so I know he wasn't faking that he was blind.

    he held a cane in one hand and this device in the other. He pointed it right at my face and i got a good look at it. at the time i remember thinking it was a sonar device of some kind, as it had what appeared to be an emitter and reciever, and he had headphones plugged into it. he would point it at a seat, and if someone was sitting there or there was garbage on the seat he would move to the next. didn't take long for him to find a seat that was empty. In fact he was seated before the train started moving. It wasn't rush-hour so it didn't take long for the train to start moving.

    anyway i was impressed with it and wondered why i hadn't seen any before or after. maybe he was a beta tester?

  6. Prior Art? by polyp2000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Bats have been using this method of navigation for thousands of years!

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    Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
    1. Re:Prior Art? by superpulpsicle · · Score: 1

      Supposedly dolphins are the same? Though they both have eyes. Talk about sensory overload.

  7. Down the road by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I've had fanciful thoughts about such a device in the past. Although, my imaginary version used a tactile rather than audible map. Perhaps a hand-sized rubber membrane with dynamic contours used to partray the near area. Any takers?

    1. Re:Down the road by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      Your real hand does the same thing. On the other hand, I suppose it is hard to replace after you tried sensing what a kitchen stove is.

  8. Does it solve a real problem? by bluGill · · Score: 1

    A school project about 10 years ago was to propose a device to help the blind. We quickly found that while not perfect, dogs and canes work just fine for near navigation. Any technology solution came up with ended up being worse than those two for the simple problem of obstical avoidance. (CPUs were not up to the task of what this device is doing though, at least not in portable packaging)

    The real problem blind people have, and one that this doesn't appear to solve is long navigation and location. When a normal person goes to the mall the see many clues to tell them were they are. There are signs above the door. Compare to the blind. Is this store "The Gap", or is it "Victoria's Secret"? There is a large difference. Assuming they decide it is a store they want to go in, is that door this device sees the door, or the maintance passage?

    It might be nice for the blind to know that some bus seat is empty, but it is much more important to know they are on the right bus.

    This device is useful I guess, and I credit the designer for not claiming it replaces a cane/dog. It does not solve the most important problem the blind face.

    1. Re:Does it solve a real problem? by chadjg · · Score: 1

      What would happen if somebody bult a small RFID reader attached to a database stored in flash memory to this little sonar ranger for the blind?

      It seems to me that most store owners could be easily persuaded to let some government agency or private group put hide a RFID tag near their door that would respond with a simple serial number. That way when the blind guy came up to the door he, or she, could not onl tell that the door was open, but he could tell that the door led to Victoria's Secret. Each individual bus could easily have it's own RFID tag, which could be linked to alive database telling the user where the bus is headed next.

      It would cost very little to tag most important objects in the public sphere, like buses, major intersections, and public buildings, and the usefulness of the tag system would be limited only by the data and meta-data associated with each individual tag. Groups of blind users could, I assume, insert commentary into the databases that only they would know, or would care about. Updates would come as fast as the first blind person to find a mistake could get home and update the database. Other users could sync their sonar/RFID readers nightly.

      The system could start small, and the basic infrastructure could be cheap. It's usefulness build as fast as it could attract a hard core of interested and dedicated hackers. This general strategy has worked before.

      Just speculation, as I don't have the skills to execute the plan. I believe there are some RFID tag grid projects at some universities. Even at only a few dollars a tag for durable tags it might be better to go with point based system rather than a grid.

      --
      Why do I have this? I don't smoke.
  9. ... as a bat by Meetch · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I saw a small science piece some years ago, not sure if it was a science oriented show or an interest piece on the news, about a "human bat". This guy did his own version of sonar by making clicking sounds with his tongue, and his ears were attuned well enough for him to reliably echo sound. He could even ride his bike on the road, navigating around obstacles, as long as the traffic wasn't too heavy...

    That's as I recall - anyone else out there have any further details?

  10. Erm... by delta_avi_delta · · Score: 1

    So, rather than use the wealth of audible data that's just there, they'd like blind people to listen to a machine that pops and pings to gauge their distance to objects? What about listening out for traffic, trouble etc? Seems to me like the system would just handicap another sense.

  11. batphones by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    Earlier this year reports were published of "batphones": ultrasonic microphones through a DSP, downshifting sound to the human pitch band. People in pitch-black rooms could point to flies more accurately with the batphones, than with the lights on. It took a few hours for people to learn to walk around blindfolded and batphoned. This sonar device seems to similarly tap into the innate human sonospace sense. I wonder which approach is more accurate and convenient.

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