I can do it with my eyes closed

I'd say a mixture of realistic things, and things that people make claims about but which could be tested safely - which would omit using, say, power tools in the shop but not automatically 'firearms' as they could try using painball guns/rounds and have someone standing their to make sure that the gun isn't being pointed in a dangerous direction.

One idea which I've seen in films is that you can pull apart an M16 (or other rifle) and put it back together when blindfolded. No idea if this is something that is ever done in the real world as part of military training...or just to show off.

I've actually done that before.

Humm, interesting Former (as is usually the case). Some interesting seeds of ideas there - walking around blindfolded or compensating for blindness with other senses probably isn't testable as it would require the cast to be blindfolded for several days so they get used to it. That probably isn't viable given all their other work and home related commitments.

I like the idea of them seeing if they could assemble an M16 (or other rifle) while blindfolded - I kicked the idea out there as for some reason I flashed back to an episode of Battlestar Galactica where the new XO of the Pegasus has marines doing just this as I was writing.

I'm trying to think of other, maybe simple, tasks that they could try safely blindfolded in a controlled environment and which they would not require training to do even sighted. Measuring, cutting and maybe trying to put pipes together might be an interesting way to go.

Typing would require some skill to pull off blindfolded, and I don't think any of the cast would claim to be touch typists nor would they really have the time or inclination to gain that much skill. (They have about a week to do all the filming and testing, and that isn't really long enough to pick up a new skill and get it to the level where you could realistically expect anyone to do it 'with their eyes closed')

Walking...maybe they could see if they know the layout of the shop well enough to be able to walk around it without major incident - they could have a helper standing nearby to stop them from walking into a wall or falling down stairs.

They could see if Jamie's organisation at M5 allows him to find things that are in storage 'with his eyes closed' - if you look at footage the shelves at M5 are filled with boxes labelled with contents such as 'dolls heads'.

Ok well I don't know about everyone else but what I think about when I hear the expression I can do it with my eyes closed is routine. ie: a task (or series of tasks) that have been preformed so often by the test subject(s) that they are 'embedded' into their memory such as the 'morning routine.' - get up, shower, dress, eat ect.

That having been said what if we asked them (I see Karri, Tory & Grant for this one) to do their 'normal' morning routine 'blind'. We have them get up, make the bed, (for modesties sake we'll skip them taking a shower that morning ) get dressed, make breakfast & eat, wash & put away the dishes, brush their teeth, do their hair, grab their bags/wallets & keys, & finally make their way out the front door. We get them to do all this once while sighted/not blindfolded, & then do it all again blindfolded. They'll be timed to see how long it takes to preform their routine 'sighted' & 'blind', & then the times will be compared to see if this idiom is infact accurate.

But then that raises the question: How do we know they didn't cheat (take the blindfold off) during this process? Unless the blindfolds are attached to them in such a way that they can't be removed without help. Such as a silicon blindfold (black of course) that is glued to their faces over their eyes. This would allow them to still preform the tests & get over the NSFT (Not Safe For Television) hurdle. I think doing a photographic comparison is a good idea, but they should still timed doing the whole thing. The whole idea is to see if the idiom I can do it with my eyes closed is true or not. If it really is as easy as the saying would imply then they shouldn't take any longer to preform the tasks blind than they do sighted.

Oh I don't doubt their honesty, but I still think it's a good idea to do the blindfold. That way the nit pickers can't come back with the obvious rant of "Well how do we know they had their eyes closed the whole time?"

Filming in a pitch black room? Usually when they do in the pitch dark experiments (The pirate's eye patch myth & driving dark border smuggling myth come to my mind as classic examples) they use a night vision cameras so we the fans can 'see' what's going on. But I don't think it'll work if they're testing the idiom in their own homes. (I don't think they can black out a house with LOTS of windows quite as easily as they can a windowless workshop.) With a routine the idiom is (at least as I see it) about familiarity ie: that they not only know the routine by heart. But would also know the environment their in like the back of their hands, & therefore could preform the give task(s) & being 'blind' wouldn't be an obstacle.

Plus I've heard that the night vision camera costs ALOT more to run than a normal camera, so a blindfold might be a more cost effective solution - even the Mythbusters have to come in on budget. & when it comes to brushing their hair with the blindfold - that's why I suggested a silicon glue on blindfold. It'll have no strings to get in the way of them preforming any of the tasks.

Note, that I wasn't under the blindfold for the entire several weeks. I only wore the blindfold during training sessions that required me to be blindfolded. (A few hours a day) though I was being trained by professional Orientation and Mobility instructors. I wasn't just left to figure it out on my own.

The Orientation part of O&M is crucial and stressful to learn. Orientation is Always knowing which direction you are currently facing, every time you make a turn, as well as knowing which direction you need to go, to get somewhere and so on.

We would be moving along and the instructors regularly ask questions like:

What direction are you facing.

What direction is to your left, right or rear.

What direction would I turn at ______ intersection to get to _____, if I were traveling North, South, East or West. Take me to that intersection from here.

How would you get from the Blind Center to the Snack Bar. Take me to the Snack, but let's stop by the Disbursing Window first.

Take me to _____ from here. (Note that all these questions were asked, after becoming familiar with the layout of the hospital)

So on and so forth.

Then after the indoor training at vast interior of the Hines VA, we moved out into the surrounding communities and did the same training with streets, sidewalks and traffic, along with the same type of questions, after I had a working knowledge of the communities I trained in.

The more you "think" about what direction you're facing, the more automatic it becomes.

Most people do not normally think about or keep track of which direction they are facing, ALL the time.

The Long White Cane is crucial to Mobility as it not only keeps you from tripping over hazards in you path, but is a tool to help you navigate around obstacles and to keep you course straight and true by referencing curbs, buildings, hallways and so on.

Long White Cane use, video.. This video is kind of dry and long, but covers the basics of the Long White Cane and it's use.

Edit:

Here is a short very basic video.

Note that, in the two videos above, they recommend longer canes than the VA blind program does. The VA measures from your heart level to the ground, instead if between the nose and chin. I use a 54 inch cane.

They did make good points about information loss, due to the joints in a collapsible cane, and you do loose some tactile feel, but in my experience it is minor losses for me.

I also use a plastic Pointer or Pencil Tip on my canes, instead of a metal tip as I found the metal tip to noisy for my liking, especially as my useable site is 20/20 or better. I have both a rigid and a collapsible canes, but I typically always use the collapsible. ( folding not telescoping)

Yes, I remember that. I believe it was a teenager, supposedly used tongue clicks. I think he was blind from birth. IIRC

May I enter an old joke...

definition of Shin.
A Device for finding furniture in the dark.


How many of us can walk around the house late at night with no lights.............


I know one person who cant, a good friend, his Missus has a habit of re-arranging furniture.
On her own.
At Night.
We dont know why......