Pretty interesting to hear this. Could you please share the URL,Please? On 7/21/15, Milan Dass <[email protected]> wrote: > Dr Milan Dass has designed a audible tennis ball to play table tennis.The > design and play method can be seen in Vasanth TV Sigaramthodu uploaded by > them. > Dr. Milan Dass > Senior Research Officer (Technology) > National Institute For the Visually Handicapped > Regional Chapter,Manovikas Nagar, > Secundrabad.500009 > INDIA > Phone:- 040-27751838 (0) > 27111380 (R) > Fax No:- 91-040-27751838 > e-mail:- [email protected] > > -------------------------------------------- > On Tue, 7/21/15, avinash shahi <[email protected]> wrote: > > Subject: [AI] Do blind Play Tenis? A Game of Tennis Tests Notions > of Blindness > To: "accessindia" <[email protected]>, > "disability-studies-india" <[email protected]> > Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2015, 1:55 AM > > http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/science/a-game-of-tennis-tests-notions-of-blindness.html > WATERTOWN, Mass. — Dan Guilbeault was 3 when doctors > discovered a > tumor called an optic glioma pressed against his optic > nerves. He > continued to play the sports he loved — basketball, > baseball and > football — until he lost most of his sight at 11. > > Now he is 19 and almost completely blind, and his favorite > sport is tennis. > > When he first heard about tennis for the visually impaired, > his > reaction was “No way!” he said. “I was skeptical.” > > So were faculty members at the Perkins School for the Blind > here, when > a sighted student from nearby Newton proposed it nearly two > years ago. > But Perkins, known for athletic innovations like adapted > fencing, > decided to offer what are believed to be the first blind > tennis > classes in the country. > > Like tennis for sighted people, the game requires speedy > court > coverage and precise shot-making. Blind players rely on > their ears to > follow a foam ball filled with ball bearings that rattles > when it > bounces or is struck. > > “Your ears have become your eyes,” said Dr. Robert > Gotlin, director of > orthopedic and sports rehabilitation at Beth Israel Medical > Center in > New York City. > > Photo > > > > CLASS Getting a feel of the net at Lighthouse International > in a > program by Tennis Serves, a group started by a high school > student. > Credit Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times > > Sejal Vallabh, a 17-year-old high school junior in Newton, > encountered > the sport during a summer internship in Tokyo and then > proposed the > program at Perkins. She set up a volunteer organization, > Tennis > Serves, which introduced the sport last year at Lighthouse > International in New York and the California School for the > Blind in > Fremont. > > As blind tennis grows in the United States, where the Census > Bureau > estimates that 1.8 million people over 15 have “severe > difficulty > seeing,” it is testing popular notions of the limitations > of > blindness. > > “I want to show that it is possible for blind athletes to > play > tennis,” Ms. Vallabh said. No one believes it, she said, > “until they > see it for themselves.” > > The most important adaptation is the ball, which is larger > and made of > foam, wrapped around a plastic shell that holds the ball > bearings. > > “It sounds like bells ringing,” said Emmanuel Ford, 10, > who has > cerebral palsy and is learning to hit tennis balls at > Lighthouse. > > > > > > Photo > > > > FOCUS Michael Harris practices with Kiran Prasad, a Columbia > student > and coordinator for Tennis Serves. The ball is larger and > made of > foam, with ball bearings inside. Credit Béatrice de Géa > for The New > York Times > > > Other adaptations include a smaller court with a badminton > net lowered > to the ground, string taped along the lines and junior > rackets with > oversize heads. Players with some sight get two bounces, > the > completely blind three. Only one set is played, and an > umpire calls > the lines. > > The first sound-adapted tennis ball was designed in 1984 by > Miyoshi > Takei, a blind high school student in Japan. Now, about 300 > players > compete in tournaments there; blind tennis is also played in > China, > South Korea, Taiwan, Britain and Russia. > > During matches, Mr. Takei, a 16-time national champion who > worked as a > massage therapist for older people, mostly hit flat, > aggressive > strokes, but lobbed the ball on defense to regain court > position. > Sometimes he lunged or dived for shots. (He died last year, > at 42, > after falling in front of a train.) > > His widow, Etsuko, who is also blind, said he saw the > “court in his > mind and he knew where he was standing, where the ball was > flying and > bouncing.” By listening, she said, “he could control the > ball very > well.” > > > > Advertisement > Continue reading the main story > > > Advertisement > Continue reading the main story > An expert on orientation and mobility for the blind, William > R. > Wiener, dean of graduate studies at the University of North > Carolina, > Greensboro, said that sound localization “is so important > when blind > people navigate the world,” and added, “Listening to the > ball, > locating where it is and swinging at it probably helps you > with the > sport and also with your mobility.” > > Photo > > > > PLAY "I was glad when I hit my first ball against someone," > said Dan > Guilbeault, a student at the Perkins School for the Blind > in > Watertown, Mass. Credit Thomas Lin/The New York Times > > Blind tennis is made possible, scientists say, by the > adaptability of > the human brain — which appears to repurpose its visual > area, the > occipital cortex, to process sound and touch in response to > blindness. > > > A series of studies discovered activity in the visual cortex > when > blind test subjects read Braille, and found that a blind > woman could > no longer make sense of the raised dots after suffering an > occipital > stroke. Another study, of sighted subjects who were > blindfolded, > showed that the occipital cortex began processing tactile > and auditory > information within five days. > > > “How it works is not a mystery,” said Melvyn A. Goodale, > director of > the Brain and Mind Institute at the University of Western > Ontario. “We > know that it is possible to localize sounds, and it is > likely that the > blind get better at this than sighted people.” > > Dr. Goodale and his colleagues are studying how echo > processing works > in the occipital cortex of blind echolocation experts like > Daniel > Kish, who as a baby lost his sight to retinoblastoma. Human > echolocators use palatal clicks or hand claps to “see” > objects around > them, like sonar in bats, only bats use ultrasonic > frequencies that > can resolve flying insects. This skill allows Mr. Kish to > hike along > cliff edges and ride a mountain bike. > > While humans don’t have the auditory resolution to > echolocate a moving > tennis ball, blind tennis “promotes freedom of > movement,” said Mr. > Kish, president of World Access for the Blind, a nonprofit > group that > has taught echolocation and other mobility skills to > hundreds around > the world. “Most blind kids just don’t get early > experience > interacting with flying projectiles. > > > -- > Avinash Shahi > Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU > > > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing > accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other > changes, please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the > thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way > relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission > based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. > > > > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. >
-- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
