2007.33.13

Kay Sonicguide MKII (Binaural Sensory Aid)

Kay, Leslie

(a) Heavy black plastic eyeglass frames, three screen covered circles above bridge, lower circle houses transmitter and upper two house receivers; miniaturized hearing aids in earpieces; gray insulated cable from left temple leads to pentagonal steel control box, box enameled in dark gray metal-flek with bright finished aluminum and white plastic ends, aluminum end houses battery compartment, white end has on/off toggle, rotary volume control, and low/high toggle as well as remote jack; belt clip on bottom and adhesive label, "MANUFACTURED BY/VIGILANT LTD./CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND/U.S. PATENT NOs 3366922/3172075"; (b) rechargeable battery, nickel poles, transluscent blue ribbed plastic jacket, "MADE IN GERMANY"..

ca. 1975

Vigilant LTD; Kay, Leslie

Christchurch, NZ

During the 1950s, Dr. Leslie Kay worked for the British Navy developing underwater sonar technology to find submerged objects like submarines and mines. Conceived in 1959 at the University of Birmingham by Leslie Kay, the Sonicguide was not fully functional until 1966. The first evaluations took place in Australia and New Zealand. By 1971, it was being widely tested in the U.S. Unlike the Russell Pathsounder, with its emphasis on go-no go information, the Sonicguide communicated an abundance of information, providing distance estimation, directional information, and tonal information that promised to provide object identification after considerable practice. Intended as a secondary ETA used with a dog or long cane, it was the subject of several courses for trainers throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. By 1975, under the supervision of Russell Smith, the Sonicguide was being developed by Wormald International, whose Sensory Aids Division became an ancestor of accessibility product vender Humanware.

Gift of Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired