The shape of a room can be modelled using echoes produced from sound, new research has found. Like bats who emit sounds in order to navigate, researchers can now plug sounds into a computer algorithm to map a room. The team were able to build a full 3D image of a room using four microphones to record echoes bouncing off walls. Writing in the journal PNAS, the researchers say the technology could one day help solve crime. The ability to use sounds to navigate the world, called echolocation, is already used by dolphins and bats. Though rare, some blind people have also been known to possess this skill.
