How Lexter Helped Blind Athlete Run Unassisted For First Time Thanks To Sound Technology
In what is claimed to be a world’s first, a blind athlete, Oscar Widegren, has ran unassisted thanks to an experiment using only sound.
The sound technology underpinning this experiment is called hyper directional sound and was delivered by two speakers, which were placed over 160 feet away from Widegren’s starting position. In effect, the technology was used to create artificial running lines for Widegren through sound, which directed him in a straight line of running completely unassisted.
Widegren ran this wall of sound successfully at full speed, in near complete darkness in March in experiment that was designed to prove the accuracy of hyper directional sound technology. The project called The Impossible Run was devised by Lexter, a Swedish sound design company and spanned two years of work from creation to execution.
Another report from the McCann Stockholm agency detailed what this two years of planning consisted of, including lengthy calibration of the technology, in order for Widegren to be able to register the sounds emitted from the speakers in a pressurized situation that running would cause.
Widegren is 18 years old from Stockholm and has been fully visually impaired since five years of age. In the report, Widegren said: “If my guide calls in sick on a training day, I can’t go. Simple as that. I didn’t sign up for this because it seemed to be a fun experiment, but because it really has the potential to break new ground in the Parasport world.”
Meanwhile, Lena Widegren, Oscar’s mother said: “Disability is not the disabled people – it’s us, who put limits on Oscar that don’t really exist.”
Alexander Kassberg, studio manager for Lexter, explained how the test worked in a video and said that the project was “to create directional sound experiences. Directional speakers emit sound in a narrow beam. Anywhere you want to have complete control over the sound. To help Oscar navigate we set up two walls of sound, the left wall and the right wall. A beeping tone in one speaker and a sound effect in one speaker — jumping between the two — it means he always knows where each wall is by listening to these sounds.”
Margareta Andersson, Founder of Lexter said: “Oscar made it and we made it. It was a brilliant evening. It was really wonderful to see Oscar, for his first time, run without anyone helping him. Oscar said to me that he felt absolutely free when he was running by himself.
“We are going to continue to challenge and support the market in exploring how sound can improve the conditions for visually impaired athletes in sports. Making this impossible run possible for the first time, is just the start. We are now working on finding ways to make this technology available for more people.”
In another report, it has been claimed that 2016’s European champion for the long jump for blind athletes, Viktoria Karlsson, is seeking to use the technology for her training ahead of the 2020 Paralympics, which will be held in Tokyo.
