Sonar in Stereo

"When a sighted child gets hurt, we consider it to be unfortunate.

When a blind child gets hurt, we consider it to be tragic."

Before you read any further, put on your headphones and listen to this radio story from 2011. That was when I first learned of Daniel Kish.

Kish, who is blind, uses echolocation to create a mental image of his surroundings in the same way that bats or dolphins use their own sonar to navigate through their various dark corners of the world. This interview is truly amazing, not just because it highlights Kish's ability to ride a bike, but also because Guy Raz recorded the whole thing with a binaural microphone, meaning that when I listen to it on headphones, the surround sound effect makes it so that I can actually sense what Kish senses when he echolocates. I literally get the picture.

"So when I walk into a new area, the first thing I do is I take stock of the most prominent features. So in this particular area, the most prominent features would be that building, the umbrella in the middle of this table, and the tree behind me, and the canopy that covers this area. Now, further away to our left is another building that's slightly further away. And this building has a much more defined reflection than this building, which suggests that, a) the building must be at some sort of angle relative to us. and, b) that it must have more texture to it—pillars, alcoves, I don't know, maybe balcony structures."

Listen to that on headphones and you'll see what he's saying.

Kish got much greater exposure when Invisibilia and This American Life co-broadcast this hour-long story about him in early 2015. While it's clear that NPR loves him, a lot of traditionalists in the blind community are a bit freaked out by what he does and his advocacy that other blind folks follow his path. It brings to mind the hatred from the American Optometrical Association toward Dr. William H. Bates for his 1920 book that recommended people improve their vision without using glasses. What Bates was to those of us with low vision, Kish is to folks with no vision. In Kish's words:

"We have supporters, and we have opponents. Any time you have an established convention, the one who comes along and says that it can be done differently, it can be done better, it can be done faster, that person is seen as the renegade. And we are, I think, seen as renegades in many instances. We really want to bring the power of action back into the hands of the consumer, of blind individuals and of their families."

Links:

• Guy Raz's 9-minute piece on Daniel Kish for Morning Edition
• Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller's hour-long piece from Inviibilia/This American Life

More about Kish, Bates, rods, cones and the authors of these posts soon to come.