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 | | Friday, 1 March, 2002, 19:34 GMT Sight aid inspired by bats  The new aid was inspired by the behaviour of bats A Cambridgeshire company is drawing on the behaviour of bats to develop a new type of cane for blind people. Exact details of the technology used by Cambridge Consultants Ltd in its "Batcane" is being kept under wraps while the sticks are at the prototype stage. But the developers are revealing the device listens to echoes to build up a map of the surrounding area - the same principle which helps bats find their way around. "What bats can do is fire out little sound waves and listen to what comes back," said marketing manager Patrick Pordage.
"That tells them the distance from objects." The new cane has been developed in conjunction with Sound Foresight who employed a bat expert on their team. Developers are now testing prototypes of the new Batcane in several countries including the UK. "The trials appear to be going very well," said Mr Pordage. "They could be on sale by the end of this year." Prices could be around �300 - �400, which Mr Pordage says would make them cheaper than some computer technology for the blind. A spokesperson for the Royal National Institute for the Blind said: "This sounds promising. "We welcome any new technology which helps the lives of blind and partially sighted people." | |   See also: Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||
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