Human echolocation is the ability of humans to detect objects in their environment by sensing echoes from those objects, by actively creating sounds – for example, by tapping their
canes, lightly stomping their foot, snapping their fingers, or making clicking noises with their mouths – people trained to orient by echolocation can interpret the
sound waves reflected by nearby objects, accurately identifying their location and size. This ability is used by some
blind people for
acoustic wayfinding, or navigating within their environment using auditory rather than visual cues. It is similar in principle to active
sonar and to
animal echolocation, which is employed by
bats, dolphins and toothed whales to find prey.