Shape of things to comeResearchers develop ways for humans to use bat-like sonar vision

First responders and law enforcement would be glad to hear this: Spanish researchers say they have developed a method of giving humans the power of echolocation or “biosonar” — used by bats for flying at night. “In certain circumstances, we humans could rival bats in our echolocation or biosonar capacity”, says Juan Antonio Martínez of the University of Alcalá de Henares (UAH).

The research goes further than that. The Spanish team says that “first results indicate that detailed resolution using this method could even rival that of sight itself” — or even exceed it for some purposes. According to UAH, their echolocators can now detect “certain objects inside a bag” or even the bones within a person standing in front of them.

The researchers believe that in future their subjects will be able to “see” through fog or smoke — and even some distance into solid walls, floors or ceilings. “Even in environments as noisy as the metro, one can sense discontinuities in the platform or tunnels,” says Martinez.

Lewis Page writes that giving a person such echolocation superpowers does not involve old-fashioned techniques such as radioactive bat bites, mysterious chemicals, alien technology, or implanted machinery. Rather, it is a matter of making a noise and listening for the echoes. The best sound is easily made by clicking one’s tongue, apparently, though it is important to get the technique right. “The almost ideal sound is the ‘palate click’, a click made by placing the tip of the tongue on the palate, just behind the teeth, and moving it quickly backward — although it is often done downward, which is wrong,” Martínez explains.

One starts off small, as by learning to detect a pen in front of one’s lips; then practice will develop better and better ability. Everyone has some basic echolocation skills — we can all, for example, detect discontinuities in roadside barriers or structures simply by changes in the reflected noise from our own car. “Two hours per day [of clicking practice] for a couple of weeks are enough to distinguish whether you have an object in front of you, and within another two weeks you can tell the difference between trees and a pavement,” according to Martinez.

The researcher says that his methods of conferring bat-like abilities would be of benefit to the blind. He also sees them being used by fully sighted individuals who might find them useful. Page writes that we should hope, as Martinez does, that these powers will be used only for good — to rescue people from smoke-filled buildings, for instance.

The researches’ paper was published in Acta Acustica united with Acustica.