Beginner's Guide to Echolocation for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Beginner's Guide to Echolocation for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Author: Tim Johnson

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 9781478371083

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The use of active echolocation is growing in popularity as a perceptual mobility tool for the blind and visually impaired. As more scientific research is compiled the skepticism around the skill is slowly fading away and making way for accelerated development and implementation of this unique tool. Echolocation is a fundamentally simple skill that many blind people use daily to navigate and understand their environment on a broad scale. With proper implementation, however it can be used to identify precise distance, sizes, shapes, edges and even the density of surrounding objects. This skill is sometimes misunderstood, but it's far more realistic and much easier than you may think. The author demystifies the growing practice of active echolocation in a way that anyone can understand, and gives the reader simple exercises, examples, and lessons as a starting point for launching you into a successful practice of active echolocation. Sound waves - like ripples in a pond - reflect differently off of all objects and surfaces. This makes it possible for the trained ear to distinguish shape, size, distance and material of our surroundings. Musicians will tell you that "reverb" causes each room or surface to have its own unique sound response. With sensitization and applied practice of this skill, it's possible for people with visual impairments all over the world to become increasingly independent, supplementing their existing forms of orientation and mobility with the intrinsic awareness that echolocation can provide. Echolocation requires no special equipment nor any special talent. The human body and mind are truly marvels of nature that grant us with capabilities you may never know you had. If you can hear, you can echolocate. Understanding the simplicity of this skill will allow you to shift your way of thinking to accommodate an expanded awareness of your environment. With this awareness comes independence, confidence, new possibilities and new opportunities.

Beginner's Guide to Echolocation for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Beginner's Guide to Echolocation for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Author: Tim Johnson

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2012-10-09

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781480153516

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Preface -- Part 1 -- Introduction to echolocation -- Part 2 -- Beginning your journey -- Part 3 -- Start experiencing echolocation -- Part 4 -- Signals -- Part 5 -- Echolocational lessons -- Part 6 -- Continuing education and training.

Animal Behavior
Animal Behavior

Author: John A. Byers

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-08-01

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1780742614

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Investigating a whole host of species from around the globe, the first short and affordable introduction to animal behavior Investigating a whole host of species from around the globe, the first short and affordable introduction to this growing field of study “Byers ultimately makes the reader yearn to join him and watch animals for a living… an excellent example of popular-science writing.” Booklist

Rhythms of the Brain
Rhythms of the Brain

Author: G. Buzsáki

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 465

ISBN-13: 0199828237

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Studies of mechanisms in the brain that allow complicated things to happen in a coordinated fashion have produced some of the most spectacular discoveries in neuroscience. This book provides eloquent support for the idea that spontaneous neuron activity, far from being mere noise, is actually the source of our cognitive abilities. It takes a fresh look at the coevolution of structure and function in the mammalian brain, illustrating how self-emerged oscillatory timing is the brain's fundamental organizer of neuronal information. The small-world-like connectivity of the cerebral cortex allows for global computation on multiple spatial and temporal scales. The perpetual interactions among the multiple network oscillators keep cortical systems in a highly sensitive "metastable" state and provide energy-efficient synchronizing mechanisms via weak links. In a sequence of "cycles," György Buzsáki guides the reader from the physics of oscillations through neuronal assembly organization to complex cognitive processing and memory storage. His clear, fluid writing-accessible to any reader with some scientific knowledge-is supplemented by extensive footnotes and references that make it just as gratifying and instructive a read for the specialist. The coherent view of a single author who has been at the forefront of research in this exciting field, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in our rapidly evolving understanding of the brain.

Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?
Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?

Author: Barry Blesser

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2009-09-18

Total Pages: 453

ISBN-13: 026251317X

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How we experience space by listening: the concepts of aural architecture, with examples ranging from Gothic cathedrals to surround sound home theater. We experience spaces not only by seeing but also by listening. We can navigate a room in the dark, and "hear" the emptiness of a house without furniture. Our experience of music in a concert hall depends on whether we sit in the front row or under the balcony. The unique acoustics of religious spaces acquire symbolic meaning. Social relationships are strongly influenced by the way that space changes sound. In Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?, Barry Blesser and Linda-Ruth Salter examine auditory spatial awareness: experiencing space by attentive listening. Every environment has an aural architecture.The audible attributes of physical space have always contributed to the fabric of human culture, as demonstrated by prehistoric multimedia cave paintings, classical Greek open-air theaters, Gothic cathedrals, acoustic geography of French villages, modern music reproduction, and virtual spaces in home theaters. Auditory spatial awareness is a prism that reveals a culture's attitudes toward hearing and space. Some listeners can learn to "see" objects with their ears, but even without training, we can all hear spatial geometry such as an open door or low ceiling. Integrating contributions from a wide range of disciplines—including architecture, music, acoustics, evolution, anthropology, cognitive psychology, audio engineering, and many others—Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? establishes the concepts and language of aural architecture. These concepts provide an interdisciplinary guide for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of how space enhances our well-being. Aural architecture is not the exclusive domain of specialists. Accidentally or intentionally, we all function as aural architects.

Arduino for Beginners
Arduino for Beginners

Author: John Baichtal

Publisher: Que Publishing

Published: 2013-11-22

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 0133416739

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ARDUINO for BEGINNERS ESSENTIAL SKILLS EVERY MAKER NEEDS Loaded with full-color step-by-step illustrations! Absolutely no experience needed! Learn Arduino from the ground up, hands-on, in full color! Discover Arduino, join the DIY movement, and build an amazing spectrum of projects... limited only by your imagination! No “geekitude” needed: This full-color guide assumes you know nothing about Arduino or programming with the Arduino IDE. John Baichtal is an expert on getting newcomers up to speed with DIY hardware. First, he guides you gently up the learning curve, teaching you all you need to know about Arduino boards, basic electronics, safety, tools, soldering, and a whole lot more. Then, you walk step-by-step through projects that reveal Arduino’s incredible potential for sensing and controlling the environment–projects that inspire you to create, invent, and build the future! · Use breadboards to quickly create circuits without soldering · Create a laser/infrared trip beam to protect your home from intruders · Use Bluetooth wireless connections and XBee to build doorbells and more · Write useful, reliable Arduino programs from scratch · Use Arduino’s ultrasonic, temperature, flex, and light sensors · Build projects that react to a changing environment · Create your own plant-watering robot · Control DC motors, servos, and stepper motors · Create projects that keep track of time · Safely control high-voltage circuits · Harvest useful parts from junk electronics · Build pro-quality enclosures that fit comfortably in your home

The Brain
The Brain

Author: David Eagleman

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2017-03-07

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0525433449

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From the renowned neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author of Incognito comes the companion volume to the international PBS series about how your life shapes your brain, and how your brain shapes your life. "An ideal introduction to how biology generates the mind.... Clear, engaging and thought-provoking." —Nature Locked in the silence and darkness of your skull, your brain fashions the rich narratives of your reality and your identity. Join renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman for a journey into the questions at the mysterious heart of our existence. What is reality? Who are “you”? How do you make decisions? Why does your brain need other people? How is technology poised to change what it means to be human? In the course of his investigations, Eagleman guides us through the world of extreme sports, criminal justice, facial expressions, genocide, brain surgery, gut feelings, robotics, and the search for immortality. Strap in for a whistle-stop tour into the inner cosmos. In the infinitely dense tangle of billions of brain cells and their trillions of connections, something emerges that you might not have expected to see in there: you. Color illustrations throughout.

Consilience
Consilience

Author: E. O. Wilson

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2014-11-26

Total Pages: 485

ISBN-13: 0804154066

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • "A dazzling journey across the sciences and humanities in search of deep laws to unite them." —The Wall Street Journal One of our greatest scientists—and the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for On Human Nature and The Ants—gives us a work of visionary importance that may be the crowning achievement of his career. In Consilience (a word that originally meant "jumping together"), Edward O. Wilson renews the Enlightenment's search for a unified theory of knowledge in disciplines that range from physics to biology, the social sciences and the humanities. Using the natural sciences as his model, Wilson forges dramatic links between fields. He explores the chemistry of the mind and the genetic bases of culture. He postulates the biological principles underlying works of art from cave-drawings to Lolita. Presenting the latest findings in prose of wonderful clarity and oratorical eloquence, and synthesizing it into a dazzling whole, Consilience is science in the path-clearing traditions of Newton, Einstein, and Richard Feynman.

Quantum Information and Consciousness
Quantum Information and Consciousness

Author: Danko D. Georgiev

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2017-12-06

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1351401777

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"I loved the book! This book is not just interesting, it is exciting. I have probably read every significant book in the field, and this is the strongest and most convincing one yet. It is also one of the most comprehensive in its explanations. I shall most certainly recommend the book to colleagues." –Richard G. Petty, MD "a very good introduction to the basic theory of quantum systems.... Dr. Georgiev’s book aptly prepares the reader to confront whatever might be in store later." –from the Foreword by Prof. James F. Glazebrook, Eastern Illinois University This book addresses the fascinating cross-disciplinary field of quantum information theory applied to the study of brain function. It offers a self-study guide to probe the problems of consciousness, including a concise but rigorous introduction to classical and quantum information theory, theoretical neuroscience, and philosophy of the mind. It aims to address long-standing problems related to consciousness within the framework of modern theoretical physics in a comprehensible manner that elucidates the nature of the mind-body relationship. The reader also gains an overview of methods for constructing and testing quantum informational theories of consciousness.