For Dan Smith his life changed when he and his twin brother Michael were stuck down by Leber’s Optic Neuropathy, an extremely rare condition that leads to a loss of vision as a result of the death of cells in the optic nerve. This causes it to stop relying vital information to the brain. For Dan this likely meant that he couldn’t ride his bike anymore.
But the 21-year-old student at the University of Bristol still took part in a unique challenge earlier this month when he sought out to navigate a mountain bike course! Dan, who has only seven percent vision, was able to ride the course using “bat echolocation” technology that involved taking a standard mountain bike and fitting it with technology that included an UltraCane electronic mobility aid. This essentially copied the navigation abilities of bats and allowed the user to build a “mind map” of the surroundings, by warning users of obstacles in the path as well as head height through tactile signals received through the handles.
“I was pretty skeptical at first, coming from an engineering background, but I was blown away by how effective the bat echolocation technology was,” said Dan Smith. “The handlebars vibrate if an object is close on your left or right, so I had to concentrate really hard. It was great to be able to independently ride a bike again. It’s another example of how technology is making the world more accessible to visually impaired people.”
The entire journey was recorded as part of the Miracles of Nature program, which airs in the United Kingdom. Dan and his brother had previously taken part in a charity ride in Amsterdam last Spring, where each brother rode on a tandem bicycle with a fully sighted rider leading the way.
[Via Bristol University: Student stars in Richard Hammond’s ‘Miracles of Nature’]