Dolphins & Acoustic Imaging (was "stereovision question")

[P3D Josh Rubin <jnr@xxxxxxxxx>]

John W Roberts writes, in his outstanding 3-D cues list:

>- audio effects, and combination of visual and audio effects
>   (A simple example is determining the distance of a flash of lightning,
>   but the human auditory system is capable of perceiving much shorter
>   distances - there's circuitry in there capable of handling time intervals
>   of hundreds of microseconds, or perhaps better. Humans also use
>   echolocation, usually not consciously - I don't ordinarily notice it,

I've always been fascinated by dolphins.  Their sonar is
reportedly incredibly detailed and complex.  But more
amazing, however, is their language.  Apparently, the
information that they emit is very dense, and it
resembles the sonar/echolocation information that they
*receive* back from their environment, leading some to
hypothesize that they communicate using moving pictures.
They have several tongues or larynxes or something, and
their rounded foreheads contain a lens-shaped dome made
of fat, which functions as a focusing and directional
lens for their sonic emissions.  They have more cerebral
cortex than humans.

Josh

Joshua N. Rubin (jnr@xxxxxxxxx) 


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