Echolocation Training in Blind and Sighted People

Article: Can echolocation help people with vision loss?
Source: Durham University (U.K.), via Technology Networks
Published: June 3, 2021

Researchers in the U.K. investigated factors that influence learning a new sensory skill, in this case click-based echolocation, in both blind and sighted individuals. Specifically, they wanted to determine whether blindness and age affected learning of the new auditory skill. The study involved 14 sighted participants and 12 blind participants, ranging from 21 to 79 years of age, over a 10-week training program. Blind participants also took part in a 3-month follow up survey assessing the effects of the training on their daily life. "We found that both sighted and blind people improved considerably on all measures, and in some cases performed comparatively to expert echolocators at the end of training," the authors report, "Importantly, neither age nor blindness was a limiting factor in participants’ rate of learning (i.e. their difference in performance from the first to the final session) or in their ability to apply their echolocation skills to novel, untrained tasks. Furthermore, in the follow up survey, all participants who were blind reported improved mobility, and 83% reported better independence and wellbeing." The results suggest that neither age nor level of vision was a limiting factor in learning click-based echolocation. Though there is the possibility of a perceived stigma surrounding making the required clicks in social environments, the findings in this group of participants indicate that both blind and sighted people were confident to use it in social situations. Currently, click-based echolocation is not taught as part of mobility training and rehabilitation for blind people, though based on surveys of improved independence and well-being in blind individuals, introducing training in this sensory modality should be considered.

My rating of this study: ⭐⭐

Norman LJ, Dodsworth C, Foresteire D, et al. "Human click-based echolocation: Effects of blindness and age, and real-life implications in a 10-week training program." PLOS ONE.  16(6):e0252330. 2 June 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252330