[games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 57, Issue 4

[AudioGames]

Hi,

I'm currently busy with setting up a research project focusing on (animated) sound balloons [1], an idea of mine while writing the The Sound Alternative article (http://www.accessibility.nl/games/index.php?pagefile=soundalternative). In short, the concept can best be compared to having (animated) traffic signs in a 3D environment that communicate both 'important' and 'immersive' sound information. The balloon shape/appearance, its tail location, and possible its animation would be used to substitute things like textual color coding, bold, italic, underscore, etc. - to make it more appealing, fun, clear, verisimitile, etc. I'm still in the early stages of setting this project up (still mailing with Reid and several deaf institutions) so any feedback on the concept ([2]) would be very grateful. 

The funny thing is that yesterday I received an email of a fellow game audio researcher who published an online article about game audio (http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/jorgensen). Instead of using actual footage of the the game to illustrate her story, she used images with 'sound balloons' :) And somehow, it works ;)

Greets,

Richard


[1] more correctly: "(animated) sound balloons as alternative for sound in virtual 3D environments?"
[2] Before writing the actual project proposal, I first want to check if there really is a need out there for such an alternative for [CC] I made the following list of potential shortcomings of [CC] in games in order to justify this research:

1) the location of the sound is not communicated through [CC] (unless of course: "Zombie Scream to your left")?
2) the behaviour of the sound is not (clearly) communicated through [CC] > if you have "dripping liquid sound", then: how fast is it dripping? is it liquid dripping in liquid or on concrete? Or...?
3) [CC] forces you to look at a specific area of the screen, (partly) removing your focus from the game(world)
4) There's no distinction between different types of sound (background music <> dialog <> interface sound ... also see: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3509/ieza_a_framework_for_game_audio.php )
5) ... ?

Although I can imagine that new alternatives like animated sound balloons could maybe improve accessibility for hearing impaired users by being "better" than [CC], my question is "is there really a need for improvement?". In other words: are these shortcomings actual problems? Reid replied (a lot, this is a snip ;) :

"Regarding whether these shortcomings are actual problems. They could be, it depends on the player and the game. My reason for captioning sounds is so players aren't at a disadvantage. So if its important to know that a sound is "rapid" or hitting a specific material, then it must be communicated to the deaf player. Otherwise, their play experience will be frustrating.
To me, the question is whether an enhanced text CC system using the suggestions I outlined above can solve the shortcomings or is an animated balloon system required? I feel with careful work the text CC can include the commonly missed information you seek to provide with an animated CC system."

This is the conversation so far, would be grateful for your input :)










  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Thomas Westin 
  To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List 
  Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2009 11:20 AM
  Subject: Re: [games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 57, Issue 4


  and also color coding is a problem for those who are deaf + color blind


  perhaps using bold for male, normal for female or some non-color indication (in addition to color coding)


  + similar for types, e.g 
  italic for hazard, normal for friendly
  underscore for information


  /Thomas


  On 6 jan 2009, at 05.55, Reid Kimball wrote:


    I think they are very important because deaf players can't hear that
    one voice sounds female and another sound male for example. You could
    color code, but must be consistent so that players learn that green is
    always for one character and no other. But then you lose the ability
    to color code sounds by type, (hazard, friendly, information) like I
    did in Doom3[CC].

    Based on color theory some colors do not mix well, so yes, black
    background can pose problems for text in certain colors. Forgive me
    for not making a comprehensive list now. If someone who knows color
    theory can let us know which colors shouldn't be used for text on a
    black background please share.




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