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Show Youth 'Hears' Ceiling With Sonic Glasses "As I look up or down, I can hear 'the ceiling or the floor," said Peter Frandsen, a junior at Panguitch High School who has been blind since birth. Young Frandsen was demonstrating his new "sonic glasses" which he explained, are more correctly called sonic guides, to a group of Lions Club members in Panguitch on Monday night whose generosity had helped to purchase the new high-tech device for him. Shortly before Christmas, donations gathered through the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars had been matched by the Lions Club to make the more than $3,200 purchase which would help the yung man "see with sound." Frandsen had just returned from two months and 10 days spent at the Ogden School for the Blind where full time training had helped him to learn to use the special sonic device. His trainer at the school which helps the blind and visually impaired was Brian Garretsen who is sighted. Frandsen explained that the sonic guide, which looks like an ordinary pair of sunglasses, is fitted with three small round projections, one centered over the other two in a diamond or pyramid shape, centered over the nose piece of the glasses. The units are called transducers and are only about one-half inch in diameter. They are connected to two plastic tubes that are in turn connected to ear plugs to carry sounds to the ears. The transducers are connected to a rechargeable battery unit about the size of a large package of cigarettes. "When the power is turned on," (Continued on Page 8) Youth Hears . . . (Continued from Page 1) said Frandsen, "the top centered unit sends out a pulsing beam that bounces off the object I'm 'looking at' and returns to hit the two units underneath. The bounce-back registers in different tones and I'm learning to distinguish between them." He said the bouncing tones tell him the difference between flesh, wood, brick, glass and other substances, responding to the quality of the surface contacted. He said the device is so sensitive that he can tell if a curtain is over a window. When asked by one of the guests if people and walls sound alike he grinned and said, "No, people do not sound like brick walls." Another asked if the tonal quality of the unit could distinguish between ice and snow, Frandsen said, "If I slip, it's ice; when my feet get cold, it's snow!" He said the trick is memorizing the various bounce-off sounds and moving his head from side-to-side to scan his area of movement for specific objects. He was asked if the outside noise proved bothersome and replied, "if the general noice is too loud, I simply turn the unit up, but I must be careful because sudden, loud sharp noises could injure my ears." He said that when the ear receptacles are in place he is still able to hear normal conversation. One guest inquired if he could tell if he was at a specific place. "Not unless I remember where I was headed. The guide does not tell me that I am at the post office." Frandsen said that he went to shopping malls, stores and schools to practice, but, he said, "I must practice over and over again until I memorize all the sounds." He gave a demonstration for the Lions Club members and showed them how he was able to "see" a flourescent light in a ceiling which he said was obviously a "higher than normal ceiling." he said that flourescent lights send back their own peculiar sound through the device. Currently the unit's maximum effective distance is approximately 20 feet. Frandsen said that proper maintenance is a critical factor in 'its functioning and he cannot touch the transducers because oil from the skin can build up and cause the unit to malfunction. Nor can the sonic guide be exposed to temperatures less than 10 degrees, extreme heat or moisture. Frandsen had heard of the sonic guide at the Ogden School for the Blind during the summer of 1984, mentioning it casually to Sara Worthen. Frandsen who is LDS, had been Mrs. Worthen's home teacher for many years and she had long wanted to do something special for him. She mentioned the device to her son, Charles Hepworth who is commander of the local VFW Post. Hepworth in turn brought up the sonic guide as a possible project to his post members, who took the idea and ran with it. As soon as the local Lions Club, traditionally concerned with projects of the sight impaired, heard about the project, members agreed to furnish any funds need to make the final goal. Deadline for donations was set for Christmas Eve, and when it became apparent that the goal would be reached, Frandsen entered the school shortly before the Christmas holiday. He expressed to everyone gathered at the Monday evening meeting his love and his gratitude for the special Christmas gift of "sound-sight." |