Audio cues are sometimes crucial to the success of a game. Developers often design sound environments so that their experiences are not only rich and immersive, but also contain cues about approaching enemies or dangers. Players who are hearing-impaired may miss this, and it’s unfair that they are disadvantaged due to their disability. AirDrop Gaming LLC said it launched a product called audio radar at CES 2024, which can help convert sound signals into visual cues so that hearing-impaired gamers can “see sound.”
The setup is quite simple. A box plugs into the game console to interpret the audio output and convert that data into lights. The screen is surrounded by a series of RGB light strips that display different colors depending on the type of sound coming from each direction they represent. In a nutshell, what this means is that if you walk around the Minecraft world, like I did at the company’s booth on the show floor, you’ll see different colors of lights appear on different bars.
Red lights indicate sounds from enemies located in the area near the corresponding light, while green lights indicate neutral sounds. An on-screen legend also explains what the sounds mean, although this may only apply to the modified Minecraft scenes shown at CES.
I walked around the site for a while and could see green lights hovering above the farm animal enclosures, while purple lights fluttered along with a dragon flying overhead. I did find it a little confusing, but that’s probably more because I know very little about Minecraft, and as a hearing person I might not appreciate the additional information as much as someone without hearing would.
With the SDK the company is launching at the show, developers will be able to customize the lighting and visual feedback of in-game elements so they can control what hard-of-hearing gamers see. Audio Radar, meanwhile, is using its own software to detect stereo or surround signals and convert them into light and color feedback.
While the product appears to be in its early stages, several major gaming companies appear to have shown interest in Audio Radar. AirDrop Gaming CEO Tim Murphy told me that Logitech “provides support as we further develop our product and design our go-to-market strategy.” Additionally, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was at the booth on opening day.
Audio Radar began shipping more widely this year, and the company continues to develop products for deaf and hard-of-hearing gamers. The system is available for Xbox, PlayStation and PC.
We will provide live coverage of CES 2024, which will be held in Las Vegas from January 6th to 12th.Get all the latest news from the show here.
This article was originally published on Engadget: https://www.engadget.com/audio-radar-helps-gamers-with-hearing-loss-see-sound-effects-instead-195001226.html?src=rss
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