Daniel Kish and Juan Ruiz using and explaining Echolocation

[ouniquian]

... So I reasoned, if my friend could zoom in like an eagle, then why can't I? I can and I do. Maybe not as good as him, but he's a hunter so his eyes are trained to detect the tiniest of movement. I attune my vision mainly to the sky, where I learn most from.

3. I can and most everyone can too. These guys on this video do things that are just completely out there, compared to what I'm saying I can do. So why the negative replies?

@PigeonMaster334 you'd think you'd be aware of bird vision

[ouniquian]

...In high school, at lunch, i'd lay in the field and stare into the sky and I began to notice free and wild floating white-gold circledots/particles Then I excitedly taught my friends to adjust their eyes properly so that they could see what I did, they learned and they did. A year later, I met a guy with better than normal 20/20 and this guy could see far, and I mean far, like a bird. I'd test him by asking him to read sentences from a little book I was holding across the cafeteria, he did...

[ouniquian]

@carruthersj ...maybe you did something those "sometimes" that it did happen that prepared your visual focus to be able to see as if with a scope.

@bustaphatty 2. Why? I've done this consciously since high school and I can still do it, and I can teach. I remember being able to zoom in almost microscopically when I was a small boy (4 or 5), by staring up at ceiling in dark at night or looking for insects smaller than the baby white insects that were smaller than ants...

[ouniquian]

@carruthersj 1. what do you mean you couldn't control when it happened? Like only sometimes in the same low light at night? I have to focus for a short period of time before I can see how I want to see, the eyes take time to adjust. Vision is attuned with time. Take for example, watching in the dark and watching in the light, you see better quicker in the light because you are more accustomed to watching in the light, and you need more time and focus to adjust your sight to the darkness...

[correip]

ALL 10 OF THESE PIXELS ARE BEAUTIFUL

[jh3496]

Wow

[ouniquian]

I've learned to zoom in and out with my vision, seriously. You can use your eyes as water telescopes, you have water in your body... When without water, your eyes will become irritated...

Don't just hydrate your eyes, let your body utilize the water consciously

I am one of the few who will say that synesthesia and other like phenomenon such as autism (to me they are alike in an intuitive sense) can be voluntary acts of consciousness as well as involuntary acts of unconscious origin(s).

[bustaphatty]

@ouniquian liar.

[PigeonMaster334]

@ouniquian Are you on drugs?

[ouniquian]

@myrl7, one is never without luck, if you can still feel then you can still sense sound as both feeling and hearing mainly utilize mechanoreceptors, just not with your ears... Practice internal silence and let all your senses be your one hearing device.

Or if you think my head is too far up in the clouds as most people do, then focus on your vision to do the job. Over-utilize your vision to improve it as well as to learn visual techniques...

[ouniquian]

I wonder how this relates to human intuition... Utilizing our senses to such extremes could span our vision to the viewing of the physiological realms, and if we can release as well as receive information, then maybe our voices themselves can function as ultrasound therapy when focused or something...

INSPIRING

[myrl7]

@ouniquian, Maybe that would work for most people but I have a severe hearing loss so I am out of luck.

[renkinjutsu01]

how the heck does he make that sound? I'm gonna get tongue cramps

[jelt110]

Daniel- i just saw you on the science channel- holy cow- you are freaking awesome. Dude - your brain must be so plastic- that's so cool!

[christopherjc]

well...I gave it a try...just sounds like clicking to me : /

[dropitlikeitshot815]

dude you're a dick for saying "seeing this is incredible" about a blind dude who uses sonar. LOL

[apixx1]

@dropitlikeitshot815 yeah he should have said "echolocating this is just incredible!" !!!

[cerebraldude812]

Seeing this is just incredible!

[carlosandleon]

real life daredevil!

[firelied]

This is amazing!

[ishouldplayzelda]

also kish wasn't the first to do this. i'm not saying he's a bad person, he's an extraordinary man... it's just that he's claiming that he was the first person to do this and that's simply not true

[ishouldplayzelda]

what's with dan's cheek :/

[Tesko91]

I can't even make those sounds with my tounge lol :(

[XJohnnyNitroX]

Juan is the real DareDevil

[ca280491]

if i ever go blind i'm calline this guy !

[femmefatale1990]

real-life daredevil.

[jamchew1982]

this is freaking amazing... daredevil for real

[Selinja]

I just learned about Daniel "Daredevil" Kish, and I'm blown away :O

[michel6]

Dear Kish, just a correction, HUMAN Echolocation was invented by Ben Underwood. You should mention him.

[misterhed]

@michel6 Dan has been using echolocation before Ben was born.

[michel6]

@misterhed I don´t have this information available. Anyway, the important is, he is helping people to survive and this is much more relevant than who came first. He is a great person and an example of human being.

[bareblar03]

@michel6

No - Daniel Kish taught Ben Underwood

nice try though

[lovepurple83]

This is so great for all kinds of activities. But riding on a street with cars seems dangerous. Often cars can made sudden and quick turns.

[UTubeGoFuckYourself]

Fancy a game of tennis Daniel?

[realist283]

This is why we shouldn't have ultra quiet cars

[umdesch4]

I'm not blind, but I think I have a little bit of this ability, because I can often walk through a pitch black room I've never been in, and navigate it without crashing into things, and I'm convinced I'm doing it by sound. There might be an overlap with critical listening skills I gained as an audio engineer. I've been convinced for years that just about anyone can develop this skill.

[VonHalford]

@umdesch4 Are you clicking your tounge? no? Then you don't have the ability of echolocation.

[charronfamilyconnect]

how do they detect if the traffic light in front is green or red? I mean that is a scary though or if a noisy transport truck passes them, it must interupt their ability to hear or do they even need to hear? Is it more of a feeling sense?

[krot84]

Wow it's so amazing! 

[TeamYankee2]

Is it possible to learn to do this if you are not blind?

[Tyjasc728]

Phenomenal... human beings are amazing creatures.

[oberati]

I Ecosmell money. Damn i hate california even the blinde needs a mansion.

[xijnnijx]

@oberati What is MS?

[cmichael67]

this is so awesome. i hope to do this if i go blind from my ms

[wallymeldrum]

What about on a real windy day? Surely that would interrupt their echolation?

[FliegenCockatiel]

Could a sighted person learn this? That would be so cool! One could never imagine the possibilities this could provide a person - exploring a cave without a flashlight, seeing in a smoke filled room (thus useful for firefighters,) all the way down to being able to get up in the middle of the night for something without having to fumble around or turn on a light.

[gamer30168]

I read about Mr Kish in Mens Journal so I decided to google him and sure enough...I tried closing my eyes and clicking my tongue while looking around the room and I couldnt hear jack lol. Mr Kish calls his ability "Flash Sonar". I think its amazing. I would love to learn to echo-locate without having to be blind. In the not so distant future i think cameras will be hardwired into blind peoples' brains rendering echolocation obsolete. Im still highly impressed though

[jpsned]

The reason why the reporter says "Dan" instead of "Daniel" is because his reporter's ego is bigger than trying to get an accurate story. Using the shorter name is folksy and makes his report sound more accessible. At some point in doing this report he surely would have been corrected if he used "Dan." But he obviously didn't care.

[VTRaider202]

Amazing!

[stephanie111949]

How is it that no one remembers Ben Underwood?!!! This can't be anything but racial. Ben used echolocation for years and years before he died.

[rocketsox]

@stephanie111949

Nothing racial about it. Daniel Kish is 44, has been echolocating since early childhood, and has been teaching echolocation for over a decade. Ben would be 18 now (he died 2 years ago).

[me0on0utube]

@rocketsox but Ben Underwood was waaaay better at it. Were Dan seems to be still learning Ben was more evolved

[ixcaliber]

@XPetiePieX Yes. Walk to a room in your house that is perpendicular to the hallway, while walking sideways facing the wall, make clicking sounds with your tongue and once you reach the door fram I guarantee you will pick up a different echo, just practice this.

[lionslicer9999]

@XPetiePieX yes, just get a really good blind fold and practice it. It would take years to get as good as they are, but in a couple hours you could probably walk around without walking into a wall

[MasterChafed]

Why would a blind guy be in a library?

[lionslicer9999]

@MasterChafed there are brail books...

[Knightmetal]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for more information on this kind of assistive technology, specifically technology where the audio engineering is involved. I'm looking for information about the role of the audio engineering in helping disable people. Please, if anybody knows of books, journals, or websites with something useful I'll appreciate it very much, thanks.

[flippinup]

Ben Underwood did this same thing. he ended up dying from cancer though. sadly.

[quaxk]

this is great, empowering and all that, but please do not drive your bicycle like that, waving madly down the street like your fresh out oktoberfest, you're gonna get splattered by a delivery truck soon or later

[nicolewood123]

juan call me its nicole!

[1VENICE3]

i serously just tryed it n it worked wtf

[lalajossa]

earlier today i saw him on tv.he is truely an amazing man.this should be manditory for blind people to learn

[fingers7dials]

I went to high school in the '70s with a blind friend (2 plastic eyes) who used echo location constantly. There was a film made about him as a kid called "Sight Unseen". Locating objects without clicking is known as object perception.

[BlindVipTV]

He is great he came to the RLSB in the UK and talk to me about Echolocation and I am inspired.

[360kal]

am not blind but is it posible for me to train myself to echo locate?

[Lazerkatz0r0Strikin]

@360kal I'm sure it is but why would you bother?

[360kal]

@Lazerkatz0r0Strikin encased am stranded in total darkness and need to find my way

[gamer30168]

@Lazerkatz0r0Strikin why would you bother?!? cuz that would be super cool!

[WAFTB]

Hello from World Access for the Blind, We use the cane because of the low placement of things like curbs on sidewalks, or changes in the angle of the sidewalk itself. Chairs' legs, skateboards, and so on might not be as readily detected by a sound wave as by the cane; particularly because the click has a difficult time to show us something below mid-body level. Below this equilibrium point is where the cane comes in, as the cane is unable to detect anything above this equilibrium position.

[gamer30168]

@WAFTB this is true as well...echolocation doesnt help as much for sharp drop-offs and such...i would recommend the use of a cane as well as the echolocation

[juancho39]

i was wondering what the cane was for. to detect low-lying objects? to not have to navigate by echolocation all the time?

[DavidTheCatMedia]

@juancho39 I don't think he can see little things like curbs and bumps without "looking" for them. Seems plausible anyway.

[hellmagefire]

The difference between people able to see and those who can't when trying to echolocate is that those without vision have an easier time focusing and getting a better reading. Sure people who see perfectly can do it, but never at this level.

[skangmox]

I met this guy when he came to help my neighbors kid. He was amazing!

[NovaScotiaImages]

Nothing new or ground breaking. I witnessed the brilliant, and blind musician Jeff Healy use vocal "clicks" and finger snapping back in 1996. This nothing new. Not to take away from Dans' contribution. Well done for helping others Dan.

[crassazell]

Amazing man you must get in touch with the prem league refs association

[NovaScotiaImages]

ROTFLMAO!!! Sadly it will not improve their hearing...my insists that no matter how loudly I ran t at the tv, they can't hear me in England..I think they are just ignoring my sage livingroom advice..."clearly offside!"

[roy3447]

awesome vid but wish it was better quality

[reziztanze]

Truly amazing.

[iainamurray]

No Limits Mobility. Thank you Daniel for your help.

[Hewpie]

I when I was a kid found myself in a wood in pitch blackness on a moonless night and found that I could sense where the trees were by making clicks. You can also 'feel' corridors and doorways and curtains by listening to echos from your footsteps. So I've been aware of this for quite some time and you don't need to be blind to experience it.

Next time you find yourself in pitch blackness during a power cut - make those clicks - you'll be surprised!

[LeatherCladVegan]

Somebody gave you a thumbs down, but you're spot on; people with perfect vision can echolocate as well, we usually just rely on our vision instead.

If you hold a sheet of paper in front of your face, you should be able to hear it - you'll hear the ambient noise in the room reflecting off the paper, you don't even need to vocalize or click. If you can't hear it, close your eyes and move it left and right until you notice the change in the sound. Anybody can practice this ability.

Cheers :)

[LukeSherratt]

Just seen this guy on Darren Brown - The Event.. daniel is incredible how he managed to describe his surroundings and objects. His eyeballs were removed when he was a baby.

[TdA7freestyle]

yeah same. this guy just blew me away.

[smile4pit]

i have sat there and watched dan kish teach my boyfriend (who is blind) echlocation, and he has prosthetic eyes, so whoever is trying to say that his retinas are intact is obviously an idiot!

[tantzer]

@smile4pit I admit to being wrong, but not to being an idiot.

[lailadamian]

@smile4pit im with you on that one haha! the person im talking to right now his names johnny daniel also tought him

[wiseye61]

NO!! im sick and tired of all the great things being credited to this so called imaginary god....

[KrisVanHoofstadt]

The negative comments posted here make me sad. I personally know a blind man here in Europe who has learned how to get about by using echolocation. It is unbelievable, but it is real.

The blind have a bright future if they choose to learn this technique.

Amazing.

[SovietDouchebag]

Dolphin Man

[vriend1]

echo location is incredible..I found this U-tube movie using echo location..

[superdodgy]

Extremely awesome! Thanks for putting up this video!

[Nerusai]

They should have blocked his eyes just to be sure ^^

[iainamurray]

His eye's where removed as a baby. That's pretty sure IMO.

[DeimosSaturn]

Why does the narrator sound like David Cross?

[omgguydude]

this is my teachers brother!

[fuzzyturtle]

Can anyone give me some information on the program this clip is from? I want to use it in a college project.

[cyberdaemon]

I want all 5 senses + echo location all fully functional

[Garadom]

But all I want is X-ray vision :<

[ReyNemaattori]

That would be useless, cause X-rays don't bounce off objects like normal ligt does, it goes straight through.

All u'd be able to see are X-ray sources of which there are few on earth(but the more there are in outerspace)

[frankensteinmoneymac]

@ TeyNemaattori Of course you are correct but I think that Garadom was refering not to literaly having the ability to see X-Rays, but rather to what the comic books comonly refer to as X-Ray Vision, such as what Superman has.....Most likely to look at girls boobs, would be my guess! LOL

[Lost8Wizard]

cancer? Use MMS cure it!

[6174joanne]

My son's eyes look 'intact' but that is because the people who made them are so brilliant at their job. Needless to say he sees nothing with or without his artificial eyes which he lost due to the same cancer Ben Underwood had. He is 7 years old and is a long cane user, he is also now showing an interest in echolocation and his mobility officer is due to attend a training course with Daniel to learn more.

[ApprenticePL]

I too got fooled by my friend's impeccable fakies, that was funny and terrific to know at once :)

I really envy the US citizens that they can be coached by such incredible guys... :(

[tantzer]

mrdrums38: It seems you are right and I WAS WRONG. Thank you!!

bsbungie: What you wrote is basically a bunch of non-sequiturs and insults. I didn't accuse anybody of deceit; where did you get that from? You need to improve your reading skills.

[tantzer]

I know they think it's echolocation that gives them this ability. But I think they're mistaken. Please note that they all have intact eyes, so the visual signal is sent to their brain. They cannot see, but the signals are there in the brain, and the brain learns to glean from them spatial information. Yes, a sort of "seeing" without actual vision. I bet if their eyes were covered, they couldn't do this.

[bsbungie]

I'm sorry, but I bet you don't know what you're talking about!

[tantzer]

Well, there was a report in the media recently about how some blind people whose eyes & retina were intact were able to find their way around in the way I described in my last post.

I think it's very revealing that in this clip at 02:57 the fellow says that even if he's not making any noise he can find his way around! It's also probably not a coincidence that all three blind persons featured in this video clip have intact eyes, suggesting that they may have intact retinas and retinal nerves.

[facelesspride]

ben something or other, a young boy uses this and he has no eyes because of cancer, thus he must use his ears

[gamer30168]

@tantzer Daniel Kish's eyes were removed at age 2 because of a heredity condition called retino blastoma...he wears acrylic fakes

[doloreshazelmotes]

That's totally not true. There's one kid who was able to do echolocation and his eyes had been REMOVED due to cancer.

[tantzer]

Well, if that is really true, then what I said must be wrong. I would like to see videos of this kid in action though.

[mrdrums38]

kids name is ben underwood...look him up...had cancer when he was 3 and therefore had to have both of his eyes removed...he used echolocation...

[tantzer]

Several people said there's a fourth kid, Ben Underwood, who also did "echolocation." I just looked him up on youtube. His eyes are completely intact too. See video clip keNEV-X_WOA

So, now we have four blind persons thinking they're doing echolocation, and --surprise, surprise-- all four have intact eyes. Coincidence?

[bsbungie]

There are so many things wrong in your thesis here that it is almost exhausting to attempt to correct you. But I'll do it at least once and then wash my hands of this. YT's text limit makes this doubly-difficult.

[bsbungie]

First off is the cynicism in your posts, whether knowingly or not, in that these people are actually lying to us and can actually see somewhat. This is very similar to the kind of treatment folks who are impaired in some way receive from certain arrogant individuals who "have it all figured out" and don't think they're as bad off as they really are. "You're only stuttering to get attention." "You're not really blind at all, stop pretending." "You're not depressed, just snap out of it!"

[bsbungie]

"Oh look, he can play Mozart backwards, he's not autistic at all, his parents just didn't raise him right."

The next is the belief that scientists and medical people have been duped as well. You've chosen to ignore all this professional opinion and set the bar so high that the only way to prove you wrong would be to a) remove the eyes of some of these folks gifted with echolocation or

[bsbungie]

b) find someone who happens to have no eyes (not a very common thing among the blind to be sure) and also has the gift of echolocation. What else? Oh, how about we do it in the middle of the night - in complete pitch darkness, and maybe have a machine that pelts them with random objects. That'll show them! Until then, you stand smug and sure of yourself, am I correct?

[MulderFromFbi]

bsbungie, I was working with Dan Kish 5 years ago and personally saw his glass eyes. He is totally blind! So blaming him in cynicism is not good.

[bsbungie]

MulderFromFBI, why are you singling me out? I'm defending D. Kish! Yeesh, come on.

[MulderFromFbi]

ok, me too. So we are 2 defenders of him :)

[mrdrums38]

actually you are wrong in so many ways...those are prosthetic eyes...those eyes are not real...the point of that was to make him look as normal as possible to other people...look up extraordinary people: the boy who sees without eyes and there you will get the full story...peace

[ca280491]

@tantzer ever heard of a glass eye ?

[veryfuck]

Ben Underwood?

[MulderFromFbi]

hey tantzer, I know Dan as he has been visiting me to learn my techniques and demonstrate his. I can assure you he has no vision at all from birth and his techniques are adapted to totally blind people. And all the showed here is real true. He clicks with his tongue and gets information on surrounding obstacles. It's real technique.

[tantzer]

Thanks for letting me know.

[mileyxyzcyrus]

my teacher went to high school with this guy, and he was voted best eyes...thats sad!!

[RawrRandomness]

my teacher went to school with him, she was telling us,

how amazing he is and stuff.

[myrl7]

Mr. Kish has gone by "Daniel" for many years, but people take liberties with it. Please when referring to Mr. Kish by his first name use "Daniel". It has become a problem for Daniel personally and professionally. There

are now articles being published referring to him as Dan and Daniel throughout. That is disconcerting to Daniel, the media, and

anyone else trying to figure out what to call him.

[wiseye61]

wow, exactly like daredevil! :D

[Niyaru]

Dan is NOT the first person to get echolocation. Or the only. My friend and his mother have it. The guy snaps to see and the mother whistles. And they are not blind. However they are synaesthetic and it is how they do it. I just wonder if these blind guys developed a sort of synaesthesia. Also my friend says he sees a light blue and yellow basic outline 360 degrees as far as the sound travels. I just wonder if these guys share a similar experience.

[ArrietaG]

OK... I just gotta say one thing... Dan Kish IS DAREDEVIL!!... Yaayyy!... Superhero, wohoo!

[Tanis65]

Wow, great video. Dan Kish isn't the only one though. There is a black boy in California named Ben Underwood who also uses Echolocation with amazing success.

[JWTownhill]

It's a sad business, but at the time of my writing Ben died 3 days ago from the same cancer that took his sight. He fought till the last moments.

[michellemariesuan]

This video sent goosebumps up my spine... This is absolutely amazing... ^^

[manman22222]

how do you do a palatal toungue click??

I've been trying for forever and I can't get it.

[BJBlitzstein]

... With the alveolar clicks, the tip of the tongue is pulled down abruptly and forcefully from the roof of the mouth, sometimes using a lot of jaw motion, and making a hollow pop! like a cork being pulled from an empty bottle. These sounds can be quite loud. * Finally, the palatal clicks, ǂ, are made with a flat tongue, and are softer popping sounds than the ǃ clicks.

[firectat700]

Thats amazing!!!!!

[nezantra]

My dad is blind and he's thinking about learning from Dan. I'm so glad there's hope.:)

[dubhanator]

Dan's achievement and generosity to help others in similar situation is truly inspirational. Best of luck!

[cxa011500]

That's friggin' AWESOME! How am I only now hearing about this?!

[sincerityboii]

It amazing what Dan Kish can do and passing on his skills to others

[PeterPAM7]

i can ecolocate to some degree using wisals

[Hollywoodwoody]

I loved "More Than Human" this is one of my favorite segments on this show. Dan and his students are incredible.

[wigglesmommy]

Dan has become a dear friend. He has entrusted Wiggles Blue Heeler and I with SoundFlash to test! See YouTube video watch?v=RNiT0xk9qRc to see Wiggles seeing with his ears!

[pacers31]

Dan kish is my teacher's brother =/

[brokenang3el]

really cool

[adeelfromny]

wow that is very awsome.