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Amazing blind kid can do the impossible watch!

nogged.com — This blind kid uses his other senses to 'see'. Truly amazing.

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  • neoneddy, on 10/12/2007, -31/+28WOW!, I always thought humans could not do that because our ears are symmetrical, unlike say an owl (one lower and one higher). Amazing.
    • P3ST4, on 10/12/2007, -39/+7THAT IS RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!! He has no eyes. Wow.
    • baldycraig, on 10/12/2007, -34/+10... and you have no brain. WOW!!!
    • TimDigg, on 10/12/2007, -27/+2He played Duck Hunt?
    • imcompa, on 10/12/2007, -60/+7No, he can do it because he's FAKING BEING BLIND. ROFL good show kid.
    • Nodren, on 10/12/2007, -1/+54ok... the kids eyes were surgically removed, how in the world could he fake being blind?

      really try watching the video next time before you speak so you save us the trouble of having to digg you down
    • DatDudeWiggs, on 10/12/2007, -6/+27That is f***ing amazing. What a great feel good story.
    • Livert, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4His tongue must really get tired after a while. Someone should send him an automated clicker.
  • defectDS, on 10/12/2007, -4/+75I think thats the kid that was on the Ellen show and was awarded an Wii a couple months early. MONTHS.
    • bennyboy371, on 10/12/2007, -2/+30Yep, its definitely him. I watched that clip over and over with envy, so I'm sure of it.
    • elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -58/+4I should just try to fake it. Wear dark sunglasses, and PRETEND to be blind.
    • retral, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17Elnerdo: For what purpose?
    • greenbox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20here's the video of him getting the wii, oh and Ellen to

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uuzZpOHBXk
    • DECwakeboarder, on 10/12/2007, -16/+9Taken from the YouTube comments:
      "
      If you listen to the mom closely right after she says "I always told him there were absolutely no Impossibilities" Listen carefully, she says "and I will not let any white(brief Pause, Lady on her left stares),anyone tell him that he can't do anything"

      It's just funny how she was going to say "And I will not let any white person bring him down"
      "

      lol.
    • squarehappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5He talks about aspirations of being a game designer on the Ellen show. I really hope this happens. This guy understands sound better than most anyone, and could see (so to speak) ways of using it the average, sighted sound programmer may never.
  • tafkase7en, on 10/12/2007, -55/+5This has been on digg before, god damn.
    • tdawson2012, on 10/12/2007, -6/+29need a tissue?
    • saggygrandma, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25yeah it has been on digg before, but they only show him with dolphins, you don't even get to see him walking around and doing stuff by himself which was crap..
  • foolfromhell, on 10/12/2007, -2/+63Daredevil!
  • WalkerBurgin, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20If he can do it then I'd go as far as to say that it's not actually impossible. Very cool nonetheless
    • elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Furthermore, this blind kid, like EVERYBODY else can NOT do the impossible.
    • phlux, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3@elnerdo

      Which is exaclty why people have to change their definition of what is possible.

      There are things that arent possible for others because they choose not to be able to...

      My professor (bujinkan budo taijutsu) used to say: "You know why humans cant fly - because they dont."

      I say C.a.n.t == choosing again not to.

  • CaptShmo, on 10/12/2007, -18/+12i want to see him playing his wii dammit.

    i would be honored to be pwned by him in a net battle.
  • Klitzy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+18Wasn't this kid already on digg and diggnation?
  • Louis11, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8Very cool, but very old...
  • noseeme, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2Watch him catch this ball on his nose!
  • kevin.gc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Looks like he can beat people in that fighting game while literally blindfolded.
  • Abjure, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Wasn't that the kid who got a free Wii and Zelda: Twilight Princess before anyone else because Ellen Degeneres gave it to him?
  • MrC539, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26I bet he plays a mean pinball.
  • drlha, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20You realise that "can do the impossible" is an oxymoron right?

    • TimDigg, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4I was about to make a snoody remark but I check wiktionary.com first...
      I had to no idea realize could also be spelled with an "s"

    • kirakun, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23You realise that "oxymoron" is an often used literary device right?
    • Brhine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Many english speaking countries, Ireland for example, use 's' instead of 'z' in words like realise, specialise, socialise, etc...
    • mapkinase, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2digg and literature? That is an oxymoron by itself
  • AngryPunk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Wow, thats.... simply amazing. The video games are what get me, how the hell can he do that? Looks like he was really getting into it too. Plus the whole echo thing. He's not using a walking stick to feel out whats around him like most of the blind, hes actually noticing the slight difference in the way he hears the pat... simply amazing. It's strange the way your other senses will enhance themselves when you loose one of the others.
  • baugles, on 10/12/2007, -21/+1There's gotta be something up with this.

    Not to say he's not blind, but something they aren't telling us or explaining.

    You can't just walk past an object and say, "It's a trashcan or a car." He had to know somehow, and just claiming it's ESP or some type of magical power isn't a valid answer to it. Likewise with the video game. Some games I'm sure he can't play, like Monkeyball where there are no sound queues for where the path is or where you need to go.

    What was that clicking/beeping thing?

    Not to be a naysayer, but really I don't see how that's possible.
    • achew22, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12He uses echo-location a technique used by bats, dolphins and some other animals (primarily nocturnal because there isn't light) The sound issued from his mouth emits in a wave form and strikes the object, reflects back and he detects the subtle differences in the pitch, frequency, and other audio characteristics. It's most certainly not impossible, just improbable.

      Sincerely,
      ~Andrew Allen
    • bobnapalm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I think what they were getting at is that the clicking sound ya heard when he was walking is what he uses to see....the sound bounces off things and comes back to him...kinda like sonar..or as the guy in the film said...echo location.

      As for the games...wow. No idea how he knows whats going on in that barrage of sound. Awesome!
    • ernkush, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Dude, that clicking was his echo-location device. He hears the sound waves bouncing off various object and formulates an image in his head of what its basic shape is. That is how bats can "see".
    • JorgeGT, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3-It's impossible to bend the spoon. You have to realize.
      -Realize what?
      -That there's no spoon.
    • Anunnakki, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I think you guys misunderstand what he means.

      Correct me if I'm wrong, baugles, but what I think he means is that if you put him in a box-shaped, sound-proof, completely empty room and placed any random object in front of him, that he would be able to know that it is there, its dimensions, if there are any significant holes, curves, bends, etc., in it, but that he wouldn't be able to identify exactly what the thing in front of him is; in other words, he'd have to take an educated guess.

      In the case of walking down the street, that one's obvious. He was walking down the sidwalk of a rural area, he knew where he was. If you're walking down a sidewalk and you "see" a rectangular object (with his "sonar"-like vision) sitting on the side of the curb that you can pretty safely assume that it is a trash can. Likewise, if you come up to the side of a house and "see" a significantly larger, rectangular object, laying on its side instead of right-side up (comparing the trash can to the car, here), that you can again assume that it must be a truck.
  • MalaysianMafia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Matt Murdoch / 10
  • fenixconnektion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Midichlorian count is through the roof! Truly remarkable.
    • pype, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Midichlorians will be retconned in the 30th anniversary ultimate edition HD-DVD box set.
      You didn't hear that from me.
  • bobnapalm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4This kid is truly amazing. It astounds me how the other senses can compensate for the loss of another! An inspirational story.
  • knodi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2amazing.
  • creamcheese, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15No one has mentioned the most amazing part of this story: the mother's name is Aquanetta.
    • JohnBooty, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Yeah. I hate the fact that I'm watching this kid pull off some of the most amazing stuff ever accomplished by a human being, and all I can think about is how his mom is named "Aquanetta".

      I... I tried to put that fact out of my mind but I couldn't!
    • skyshock21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Aquanetta!!!!!!! The dude's mom is named Aquanetta! WTF!!!!!!!!!
  • deltaandroid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1How does he play the games, the eco location/sonar couldnt work on a flat 2d tv screen, he said he listens to the voices, but how does he know where? does he got some damn good surround sound? anyway I commend him, DBZ all the WAY!
    • DPyro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Good question, I'm pretty sure you can't echolocate in color...
    • unitethenations, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@DPyro:

      He memorizes the sound for different parts of the game.
    • nikoniko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13D sound. Just as you can hear whether some baddie is coming from behind you, to your side, and so on, due to positional audio, so can he. It's just that those cues are the only thing he relies on, so his mind processes them more finely to glean the extra information he needs.
  • dylanbenstead, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2WTF!!! I submitted this a month ago... no digg

    http://www.digg.com/videos_people/Kid_with_no_eyes_can_do_anything
    • thebrokenlight, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Cry me a river, build yourself a bridge, and get over it.
    • flamingmb, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1yeah its been on here a few times. unfortunantly some people are just plain retarded or have alzheimer's and some how it gets the front page again.
  • sup34dog, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5how many times will this make it to the front page?
  • DECwakeboarder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Pretty cool...think about that next time you lose playing a game online.
  • flamingmb, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2do you people just not remembed this being all over digg, and the news, a few weeks ago?
  • wozley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's *****' cool!
  • jellygraph, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1In the clip with Ellen where she gives him the gift from Nintendo, did he just say: "Yeah, I saw the Nintendo Wii on the internet"... ??? _Saw it_ ? Would a blind person really say that? *puzzled*

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uuzZpOHBXk
    • kday, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5He saw it with a screen reader. I am sure he used the word "saw" instead of "heard", because it makes more sense to a 'normal' person in that context.

      He can still see things.... just not with his eyes.
    • lostsinner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My mother's been blind since birth. She uses the term "saw" and "watching" all the time. When we catch her at it, we give her hell for it.

      Child walks to the television and changes the channel
      Mom: "Hey, I was watching that."
      Child: "No, you weren't."
      Mom: "You know what I mean. Turn it back. You're going to hell for picking on blind people."

      This echolocation thing, though; she can't do that. Damn if it wouldn't be cool, though.
    • McGrude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"saw" in his context really means "learned of", "became aware of" etc, at least that's is the way many American english speakers use it and so does he.
  • DaJackall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Insane. People kinda take all their senses for granted.
  • WebsterJTC, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2incredible story.

    kinda funny how nintendo was going to name their system "dolphin." now they give it to the boy with the dolphin senses before anyone else. im sure it's just a coincidence, but still cool
    • AshyRaccoon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I thought the Gamecube was the "dolphin", not the Wii.
  • dzqm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1just 1 word: wowwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • CrimsonFlash, on 10/12/2007, -14/+3I hope one day ear cancer causes him to lose his ears.

    Okay okay, not really. I'm just a bit annoyed at how he got a Wii before me. :P
    • biff198, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I hope one day cancer causes you to die.
  • jongens, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5i have a blind friend who uses echo-location - i'm not to attempting to demean this kid, but i don't think it is a one-off skill. my friend uses the exact same method by creating a sharp click with his tongue repeatedly, as does the kid in the video. i would be interested to know if this method is taught, or whether it is picked up instinctively...
  • zeeneo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5heh, i'm in linux and i cant view the "see to be believed" video about a blind kid. it's a black screen but audio is fine.
  • truegodofwar, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I saw this movie. It's called Daredevil. It's amazing to think this kid is just as a good as a fictionalized super hero.
  • dodgyd55, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i remeber this a while ago in a magazine, but that game he kick ass at was tekken (sure you could button bash your way through that game) but i just thought thats all he could do
  • ilikevag, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3if he uses the clicks of his tounge to see objects, wouldn't this require the object to take up 3 dimensional space? How would he play video games?
    • biff198, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4He doesn't use his clicks for that. The game makes the sounds, and he can tell what is going on in the game by that sound. For example, If you are playing against a friend, and his character makes the sound that occurs when the character rushes towards yours, you can be pretty sure that he rushing towards you. From that you can choose what you want to do. A lot of games have unique sounds for every action.
    • joquarky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think that it would be quite fascinating to read his reviews of various video games.
  • mangoaltoids, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How do I challenge this kid to a blindfold match in any fighting game?
  • biff198, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2It's amazing. Sound travels at over 700 miles per hour. If you can make a click, and differentiate between the front and back of a car that you are standing near, thats unreal.

    Major Kudos to him. Kinda makes you want to be blind...
    • 5hinmyoken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1your brain does that all the time. thats how stereo hearing works.
  • chadtatro, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2this has been submitted a ***** of times, but it is pretty incredible.
  • manicdvln, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I say bravo to him and his mother. What a nice success story this is. I don't understand why there isn't more news like this in our media. We concentrate too much on the negative. This definitely encourages other handicapped children that with a bit of motivation, anything is possible.
  • GatsBestFriend, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That is bloody amazing.
    Spot on, spot on!
  • dynamic22, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0reminds me of the Marvel Daredevil character
  • mk32066, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Anyone know how many times this kid had been posted to Digg?
  • burhan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I watched this with two of my younger children. Again, a great story, and a perfect example of how there is no "impossible". This reminds me of the atom film podcast of "Fast and reliable" about the bicycle courrier with one leg.

    I am humbled by this blind boy, and wish that I had the will and perserverence that he has displayed!
  • videoCT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You know, a story like this should be on the cover of People, instead of Jennifer Aniston for what, the 100th time? I don't know about you, but anything short of Aniston getting run over by a truck is not inspiring. This story is amazing.
  • Anarkast, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It's called SONAR - I've known a few blind from birth people who did this, it's not that unusual.
  • Imperdimper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I'd say that kid is a savant. Certainly appears that way with his skills.

    Sure, blind people do have the ability to really 'listen', but his seems super-human. Able to decipher sounds on an incredible level.

    Someone should drop a piano in front of this guy and let him go to town.
  • amed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i was expecting the kid to be white!
    not that im racist but usually thats what the media likes


  • 5hinmyoken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2that's got nothing to do with being a savant. actually there's several blind people using echolocation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_echolocation

    that kid is good at it though! awesome.

    ps "sonar" = underwater. but i'm sure them echolocatin people can do that too.

  • 5hinmyoken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1sorry for the doublepost but i just noticed this: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ben_Underwood&redirect=no

    hehe
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