Sonar device Helps Blind Navigate

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.""

Comments

Inevitable minaturization, etc...

[Shag]

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).