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In Touch: New Research into Echolocation

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05/06/2018

New Research into Echolocation

BBC Radio 4 - In Touch, New Research into Echolocation

We talk to a scientist investigating the ability of blind people to navigate by 'clicks'.

New research from the University of Durham is exploring the ability of blind people to navigate using echolocation. We talk to Dr Lore Thaler about an underused skill.

Peter White recalls being four years old when echolocation just... clicked. 
He was walking under a railway bridge and discovered that making a sound could give him an echo impression of the height of it. 
Videos and podcasts about the American exponent Daniel Kish have drawn a wide audience, and he's been involved in the formal teaching of the skill, despite many blind people feeling it is instinctive. 
In Touch has had first view of new Durham University research into the technique with Dr Lore Thaler, and we catch up with a 20-year-old we spent time with in an echolocation lesson 10 years ago, to see if he's kept up the skill. 

We also talk to the BBC's Gary O'Donohue in Washington, who's been trying out a new technological frontier in real time description for blind people - Aira. 
Presented by Peter White.
Produced by Kevin Core.

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