The sense of sight is a privilege that many of us have taken for granted. If you were to close your eyes, wouldn't the simple act of getting out of your seat and walking across the room become a daunting task? Many visually impaired people spend their lives with the inconvenience of being unable to navigate their surroundings without some form of assistance, whether it is a guide dog, a human helper, or more typically, a white cane. A talented few are able to use the technique of echolocation (i.e., creating clicking noises with their canes or even their tongues) to determine their surroundings based on the reflected sound waves, as a means of navigating without visual cues. Unfortunately, this technique of navigating using echolocation 1 is hard to master.
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