2019-04-23 18:22:11

have, at least out of the people I know, sighted and blind alike, the absolute best directional, spacial, and distance awareness.
I'm not sure if this is a normal thing among blind people but sighted people freak out when I just step over that wire or run around a tree that magicked it's way into my path.
I can acutely recognize the echos? I think there echos, bouncing off of things that are more then a foot below my shoulder, so about 4'5 inches high.
Is this a common thing? Just curious. Maybe I have super powers.

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“Yes, sir. I am attempting to fill a silent moment with non-relevant conversation.”
“You don’t tell me how to behave; you’re not my mother!”
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2019-04-23 18:23:04

That is, 4 foot 5 inches.

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“Yes, sir. I am attempting to fill a silent moment with non-relevant conversation.”
“You don’t tell me how to behave; you’re not my mother!”
“Could you please continue the petty bickering? I find it most intriguing.” – Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2019-04-23 18:39:09 (edited by Chris 2019-04-23 18:46:07)

No, we don't have "superpowers", the world is too mundane for that. People don't realize that there are other ways of accomplishing tasks that don't require vision. We must continually educate them.

As for spacial awareness, you're completely right. You're hearing the echos or lack of them, as sounds bounce off of objects in the environment. This is why you can stand next to a car or wall and tell that something is immediately off to your left or right. The ambient sounds are muffled by the obstruction in that specific direction. It's not a "superpower", it's just you using your ears to process what's around you.

In terms of spacial awareness, I think this depends on the individual. I can use a cane pretty well and I know my directions, but navigating unfamiliar locations is my major problem. I think this stems from a few different things. First, I generally don't like wandering around unfamiliar environments. I don't know why, maybe it's partially due to my blindness, partially the fact that I don't find most of the world to be very interesting because it's too visual or loud, etc. If given the opportunity, I'd choose to work from home or stay in one location at work.

The other major problem I have is simply trying to detect what's around me. I can move around, whacking things with my cane, but I'm at a disadvantage compared to the average person. The average person can open his/her eyes and immediately know that the elevators are off to the left down the adjacent hallway, the front desk is behind and to the left, the offices are off to the right down a corridor, etc. Since I'm totally blind, I don't get that instantaneous stream of information and have to rely on the cane, my memory, and ears. If objects don't make sounds, the ability to hear doesn't really help aside from detecting obstacles and openings. I'm not skilled at echo location and I honestly think it's a bunch of crap. The cane is good for avoiding obstacles from the ground to about chest height, but it does nothing for something that's at head level or above you.

This is why I want some sort of very advanced and accurate GPS system paired with a camera and object recognition. Then I could walk around and know about key details like doors to buildings or rooms, etc. I've thought about a guide dog, but I don't want to take care of a dog, and said dog is not going to tell me how to get from point a to b. All the dog will do is possibly help me avoid obstacles better than I currently do with a cane. I believe the dog can learn routes, but you have to know where you're going and what's around you first. I want a guide human or robot! smile

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2019-04-23 23:17:06 (edited by UltraLeetJ 2019-04-23 23:19:59)

just, hahahahhaa. Super powers... too much gaming I guess
Echolocation is crap, is distracting, zero usefulness and certainly a great advertising gimmick.
I wish I could have true or deep distance and spatial awareness, so we could have sports that are 10 times more exciting than uh what is it, oh, yeah. goal ball?
nothing like running around a soccer field and reacting fast. That will never happen unless you play with a sighted companion.
Try successfully walking over that wire or circumnavigating that pole in the middle of a 80s style party with blasting music and crowd talking and we can really start a discussion

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2019-04-24 03:19:20 (edited by Ghost 2019-04-24 03:19:37)

Hi,
Unfortunatly I don't know the reason for this, but my sense of direction and spacial memmory is really bad. I think the episodes of sudden hearing loss I suffered did stuff to my hearing,  so I  cannot rely too much on echolocation for navigation. Not active echolocation at least.

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2019-04-24 04:16:20

@4:
Echo location is certainly more useful than you make it out to be. Obviously not useful for playing sports and what not, but it can help to get around some objects, especially when it's passive and you don't have to click and clack to figure out where stuff is. I think I have a decent level of that passive echo location.

2019-04-24 07:51:31

from what i gathered, you have been blessed bye the lost spirit in AHC , you should defenetly see a dock before it spreads around

2019-04-24 08:42:12

The term "super power" is rather grandoise, people can adapt and develope all sorts of unsual tricks in a variety of ways, both conciously and unconciously. Life is strange, but its always important to try to understand whats actually happening, rather than what you think is happening. At least until we start getting into psychosomatics, then things just get straight weird. Also came across an article discussing a study on audio processing adaptation for the blind [here], which seems to suggest that those who have gone blind early in life really do have a more keen sensitivity to small changes in frequency, which in some ways is not surprising.

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2019-04-24 17:04:54 (edited by kingzombie 2019-04-24 17:06:12)

Yeah my spacial and distance awareness and or whatever else is great. I use it everywhere i go in familiar locations and stuff. This is my primary way to navigate actually, especially since I don't like drawing attention to myself by smacking some stick on a floor and making way too much noise letting everyone around to hear exactly where I am and who I am just by the noise lol.
It even works hand in hand with a cane whenever I use it because the sound the cane makes in relation to the other sounds and echos of objects just by sliding the cane makes navigating a little easier. And if I don't have my cane and i want to know more info i can just tap my foot, or slide my foot, or make any form of noise and hear the effects to give me a path.