[games_access] Jam's last project...

[d. michelle hinn]

It was so frustrating to read the last line that said that Jam was 
still to be suspended. It's hard not to feel like great and promising 
projects such as this are being held hostage due to governments 
having to cave to industry -- I mean surely there's some compromise 
that can be found to get this to kids that could really, really use 
this. Ah...but I'm not a politician...

Michelle

>From:
>http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/access20/2007/03/bbc_jam_to_a_different_tune_1.shtml
>
>BBC Jam to a different tune
>By Paul Crichton
>13 Mar 07, 10:14 AM
>
>Introducing science to young, visually impaired children in a fun way is a
>tough brief, but it is one that BBC Jam sets out to meet with 'Sonic Science',
>a forthcoming educational game for seven to eleven year olds.
>The game is set in Audioville, a place that the player can explore,
>completing a series of fun tests and challenges as they go. To look at it,
>you wouldn't know that it is an audio game. It looks good. Audioville is a
>bright, colourful animated place. But this is an example of what BBC Jam
>call, "reverse inclusion". If sighted kids want to play the game they can,
>but their primary source of information will come from using their ears, not
>their eyes.
>
>The game brings the concept of experimentation to children. One way that
>this is done is in the section where the player must help a robot to push
>carts to a train. If the player pushes too gently, then it won't reach the
>train. If they push too hard, then it bounces off.
>
>All the information required to complete the task is conveyed with sound. A
>power bar determines how hard the robot pushes the trolley. As the power
>increases, each increment is announced both with numbers, and with a note
>that increases in pitch as the power goes up. Feedback is also provided by
>commentary, letting the player know if they were successful, or whether they
>must increase or decrease the amount of power used. The players might not
>realise it, but they are being introduced to experimentation as well as to
>the ideas of physics like 'force' and Newton's famous third principle -
>every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
>
>The use of sound is innovative. Unlike most standard games, it isn't there
>just to add atmosphere. Nor is information only conveyed by voiceover. Using
>stereo speakers, the player gets far more information delivered in a more
>precise way than heard before - effectively, "3D sound".
>
>This is best seen in another section, where the player must talk to
>different animals from different habitats. This is cleverly done. In moving
>from one habitat to another the sound changes, say from walking on grass to
>the sound of walking in snow. And players can hear when an animal is nearby.
>In the snow habitat area, because of the use of stereo, players can hear the
>snowy owl hooting and whether it is to the left, right or straight ahead.
>
>BBC Jam has demonstrated what can be done with sound in this game, and there
>is no reason why others cannot adopt some of these techniques in other
>areas. Integrating 3D sound into standard games, for instance, could make
>them accessible to many more people. But the BBC Jam team aren't stopping
>there. They are exploring ever more creative ways that sound can be used for
>future projects. So if you want to know what a triangle or a graph sounds
>like, then BBC Jam will be the place to look.
>
>Update - since this blog has been published, the BBC have announced that BBC
>Jam is to be suspended.
>
>
>
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