GIVING visually impaired people a virtual doppelgänger with the ultrasound abilities of bats could allow them to better navigate their surroundings.
Sounds such as beeps are sometimes emitted at safety-critical locations such as fire exits or pedestrian crossings to help visually impaired people find their way around. Bat-like echolocation would enable them to sense a whole lot more of their environment via hearing.
Bats locate obstacles by producing rapid streams of ultrasonic clicks. They use the time delay and volume of the echoes to determine how far they are from the objects that reflected them. The bat’s use of…
