Wow dark, that was amazing. You've obviously done some major
research here. ONe thing I'd like to add, while sighted people
may look at a table or some kind of pillar and they can see the
object the same in the real world as they do in a game, some vi
people (myself included) may use echos of nearby sounds to pick
out objects. Unfortunately, we can't really do this in audio (or
at least I've never scene it) which also limits how much info we
have access to.
----- Original Message -----
From: "dark" <d...@xgam.org
To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org
Date sent: Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:43:34 +0100
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] USA Games Halloween Project
Hi tom.
I think part of the problem is simply one of information.
while I agree with you about training and lack of experience,
there does
also seem to be a conceptual and technological issue as well.
People with functional eyeballs get about %80 of information
about the world
visually. This not only comes in the form of complete and very
quick spacial
information, but also an instant recognition of objects, which is
naturally
completely unconscious.
So, computers use vision as a chief output medium. Sinse the
users own brain
will naturally recognize objects, the computer just needs
pictures of them
for the user to recognize, and sinse the screen is visually
speaking a large
area for outputting information, a lot of space can be shown
which a person
looking at the screen can comprehend in a single glance, whether
it's a
virtual character in a 2D or 3D environment, or a map of a
complex stratogy
situation.
Extra atmospheric fluff or mechanical complexities can be added,
animation,
sound etc, but in order to setup the situation of a game and get
the user to
understand what the game is about and what is being required of
them it's
only necessary to show them standard elements and leave the rest
up to the
visual cortex.
In representing a game just! in audio though, you lose all of
that. Most
objects need specific identification, sinse only a few sounds
(barking dogs,
wind etc), are readily identifyable completely devorced from all
context.
Also because in real life things like tables, walls, cliff edges
etc do not!
naturally make sound, it's necessary to either have the sounds be
representational, or to have an extra layer of audio navigation
ontop.
To add to this, audio only comes from the left and right, and at
most you
can only distinguish five or six information bearing sounds at
once, ----
perhaps 8-10 if your really good. But comapre this to a visual
overview of a
large amount of infromation. This may change if larger scale
tactile
desplays ever become useable, but that's in the future.
Even just using black and white, on a tv screen it's possible to
create a 2
dimentional game. Because you have two dimentions to play with
and a
comparatively large surface to show object position, you can test
the
players spacial reactions and force them to judge relative speeds
and
positions of more than one object, ---- eg, two bats and a ball.
In audio however you don't have this advantage at all.
Most sounds will need extra explanation, and in order to show
even a fully
2D space, you'll need to think up some pretty novel ways of using
sound and
possibly some navigation aides, ---- and that's before we even
get into
environment, variety of objects or anything else.
So, because left/right with a few sounds is the easiest baseline,
left/right
is often what you get, eg, space invaders.
Becausesounds can play at once, it's hard to show the position of
many
objects, so instead of getting an exercise in judgement you get a
"here it"
"react to it" type of boppit situation.
Audio games of course have grown a lot sinse they began, but
where as the
beginning of visual games was at least 2D and requiring spacial
judgement,
the beginning of audio games was 1D and required nothing but fast
reactions.
Of course, audio can go further, especially with some interesting
tools.
This is one reason I so much admire the context sensative menues
in time of
conflict, sinse they let players get through a hole load of very
coplex
information about the spacial location and distribution of units
in very
short order.
if you'd asked me in 2007 whether i thought an audio game could
be created
where you commanded hundreds of units on a huge world map, I'd
have probably
said no, ---- and I'm very pleased to be wrong.
nevertheless, it is stil true audio games, simply by virtue of
being! audio
are harder to design and create from the standpoint of giving
information to
the player.
Beware the Grue!
Dark.
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