I've heard there is a lot more to spacial placement than just fiddling with the pan to adjust volume levels. At least this seems obvious to me when a little pan to the left makes the sound fly way off to the left of the sound field. Probably a lot more going on in the ear that isn't fooled by that trick. So, that said, do you have any idea if the VoiceOver positional audio is doing real sound field magic or is it just a subtle pan?
One underrated feature on the new iPhone is the compass. With this an application can not only know where you are but also which way you (or at least your phone) is pointed. This makes possible real walking directions from where you're at using left and right rather than assuming the user has their cardinal orientation correct. Even feedback to say what is in front of you in the direction you are pointing. Should be good things coming. CB Chris Hofstader wrote: > Including the two textbook chapters (one entirely on games and another > with a portion on audio games), a couple of peer reviewed articles on > the matter, a pile of blog articles > (http://www.blindconfidential.blogspot.com > ) and the odd item here and there, I have studied a handful of audio > games in depth, fooled around with a few others and talked to a lot of > their authors but the breadth of my knowledge is far more narrow than > a dozen hardcore gamers I know and rely on for brief descriptions for > new entries so I can quickly ascertain how they may move the science > in a new and/or different and interesting direction. > > As I said this morning, I am far too boring to actually build a real > game and, when you scratch beyond the surface, you will find that > first and for mostly, I think about putting technology in the hands of > blinks that will provide them with the tools they may choose to employ > in a job or school situation. > > > If you are interested in mixing sound and tactile feedback, get a look > at a Falcon 3D tactile controller. I think they have an SDK for Mac > and they do .5 mm tactile resolution (most humans can feel no better > than .1 mm) so you can do extraordinary things with this device and > they only cost about $ 100 (really). > > I like the idea of using the iPhone for orientation and to provide > information about one's surroundings. I'm not especially impressed by > the iPhone's Maps application but its location services are pretty > excellent. I thought of this while walking through Harvard Yard after > lunch today and wondered how a student new to the university would > find the library as opposed to the historical center next door as none > of these buildings have traditional street addresses and are arrived > at by foot paths. Your idea could give a student a lot of good > information and can be used as a fallback if they get confused. > > Cool idea. > cdh > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Jul 30, 2009, at 12:29 PM, Mark Baxter wrote: > > >> I really wonder why no one's heard of AudioQuake with MindGrid. The >> project has somewhat stalled out over the past two years, but the >> "Jedi Quake," version, written by Cara Quinn and others, is the best >> 3D audio simulation I've seen. I can't speak for the parallel- >> processing audio capacity of the brain, but immediately this game and >> its maps made me start thinking about "mobility orientation," >> applications. Having only ever encountered a mobility orienting >> instructor for the first time in memory last year, I don't know much >> about how most blind people do it, but I'm sure my skills aren't that >> different from the norm, and I saw implications for map-making and >> environment-learning, which is where I wanted to go with apps for the >> Iphone. I still have a Windows laptop running XP; I'll check out >> shades of doom. >> >> >> Mark BurningHawk >> >> Skype and Twitter: BurningHawk1969 >> MSN: burninghawk1...@hotmail.com >> My home page: >> http://MarkBurningHawk.net/ >> >> >> > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
