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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 11, 2026

Evanescent Field Based Photoacoustics: Optical Property Evaluation at Surfaces

Evanescent Field Based Photoacoustics: Optical Property Evaluation at Surfaces

Published on: July 26, 2016

Psychophysics of human echolocation.

Sven Schörnich¹, Ludwig Wallmeier, Nikodemus Gessele

¹Department of Biology, University of Munich, Martinsried, Germany.

Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology

|May 30, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Human echolocation, using self-generated sounds, allows for precise environmental navigation. This study demonstrates accurate distance and room-size discrimination, providing a foundation for understanding its neural basis.

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Area of Science:

Auditory perception
Human echolocation
Psychophysics

Background:

Limited scientific attention has been given to human echolocation abilities.
Blind individuals utilize auditory analysis of self-generated sound reflections for environmental orientation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the psychophysical capabilities of human echolocation.
To examine how individuals adapt vocalizations and auditory analysis for echo-acoustic tasks.
To establish a psychophysical basis for the neural mechanisms underlying echolocation.

Main Methods:

Formal psychophysical experiments were conducted with sighted subjects.
Subjects were trained to assess features within a controlled virtual echo-acoustic space.
Stimulus parameters were precisely manipulated to evaluate echo-acoustic perception.

Main Results:

Humans can accurately discriminate target distances using echolocation, with a resolution under 1 meter for distances over 3.4 meters.
Just Noticeable Differences (JNDs) for distance discrimination were approximately 0.5 meters at a 1.7-meter reference distance (10 ms echo delay).
The precedence effect's perceptual asymmetry is reduced during echolocation, and subjects can detect room-size changes as small as 10%.

Conclusions:

Human echolocation is practically effective for environmental interaction.
The study provides robust psychophysical data supporting further research into the neural foundations of echolocation.