Human Echolocation
A study in repurposing the brain
Echolocation is a way of visualizing space through sound waves.
Most people associate with echolocation with bats, who make distinct, high frequency screeches. In regards to volume, some bat calls can be as loud as 120 decibels. That ultrasonic frequency is louder than a smoke detector and may even cause severe damage to human hearing.
After a bat screeches, the intense sound waves hit an object which returns new waves to the bat, like an “echo.” The unique, returning sound waves tell the bat about the object’s relative position, size, and shape.
Notably, echolocation isn’t some cool ability bats just so happen to have. Fossil evidence suggests that bats evolved echolocation over 50 million years ago, with their skulls adapting accordingly. If you’ve ever heard the expression “blind as a bat,” this also points to the necessity of bat echolocation. In the dark, bats have to rely on echolocation to successfully find food and navigate in the air without colliding into objects.
However, bats aren’t the only creatures that find echolocation useful. In fact, some humans find value in adopting…
