The Boy Who Sees Without Eyes (Video)

When he was three years old, Ben Underwood lost his sight completely after retinal cancer claimed both his eyes. However, this fourteen-year-old (who wears two prostheses) skates, plays video games, basketball, rides on horses and dances at school events. How?

Ben has learned to locate objects before him by making a stream of clicking sounds with his tongue and then listening the echoes as they bounce off the surfaces around him. The echoes produced can be soft (indicating metals), dense (wood) or sharp (glass). Depending on how loud or faint the echoes are, Ben has learned to use them to gauge distances.

The technique is called echolocation. Animals such as like bats and dolphins use a similar technique to navigate. Experts say Ben’s ability is extraordinary.

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