DOCSLIB.ORG

Understanding Audio Game Experiences: Perspectives and Guides for Design

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Understanding Audio Game Experiences: Perspectives and Guides for Design Audio Games Verstehen: Perspektiven und Anleitungen für Design von Sound-basierten Spielen DISSERTATION zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktor der Technischen Wissenschaften eingereicht von Dipl.-Ing. Michael Urbanek, BA B.Sc. MSc Matrikelnummer 01328186 an der Fakultät für Informatik der Technischen Universität Wien Betreuung: Ao.Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Peter Purgathofer Zweitbetreuung: Univ.-Prof. DI Mag. Dr. Florian Güldenpfennig Diese Dissertation haben begutachtet: Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. Jaime Sánchez Maic Masuch Wien, 13. März 2020 Michael Urbanek Technische Universität Wien A-1040 Wien Karlsplatz 13 Tel. +43-1-58801-0 www.tuwien.at Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. Understanding Audio Game Experiences: Perspectives and Guides for Design DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doktor der Technischen Wissenschaften by Dipl.-Ing. Michael Urbanek, BA B.Sc. MSc Registration Number 01328186 to the Faculty of Informatics at the TU Wien Advisor: Ao.Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Peter Purgathofer Second advisor: Univ.-Prof. DI Mag. Dr. Florian Güldenpfennig The dissertation has been reviewed by: Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. Jaime Sánchez Maic Masuch Vienna, 13th March, 2020 Michael Urbanek Technische Universität Wien A-1040 Wien Karlsplatz 13 Tel. +43-1-58801-0 www.tuwien.at Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. Erklärung zur Verfassung der Arbeit Dipl.-Ing. Michael Urbanek, BA B.Sc. MSc Hiermit erkläre ich, dass ich diese Arbeit selbständig verfasst habe, dass ich die verwen- deten Quellen und Hilfsmittel vollständig angegeben habe und dass ich die Stellen der Arbeit – einschließlich Tabellen, Karten und Abbildungen –, die anderen Werken oder dem Internet im Wortlaut oder dem Sinn nach entnommen sind, auf jeden Fall unter Angabe der Quelle als Entlehnung kenntlich gemacht habe. Wien, 13. März 2020 Michael Urbanek Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. v Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. Danksagung Cui honorem, honorem. Mein erster Dank geht an Florian Güldenpfennig, der mich während meines gesamten Dissertationsvorhabens unterstützt hat. Du warst nicht bloß mein Betreuer, Mentor und psychische Stütze, sondern wurdest auch ein guter Freund. Danke! Danke an Peter Purgathofer für die Möglichkeit der gemeinsamen Arbeit am (ehemaligen) IGW. Danke auch, dass du mir den nötigen Freiraum für diese Dissertation gegeben hast; ohne dem wäre diese Dissertation vermutlich nie entstanden. Danke auch an Michael Habiger, der mich seit meinem ersten Tag an der TU begleitet hat. Ohne deiner positiven Einstellung in jeder Lebenssituation wäre ich wohl nicht in der Lage gewesen, diese Dissertation zum Abschluss zu bringen. Danke! Danke auch an Peter Fikar, der fast immer für mich verfügbar war, wenn es um Game Design ging. Weiters hat er einige unserer Publikationen grafisch aufgehübscht, auch danke dafür! Mitbegründer der Vibrette. Danke auch an Franziska Metz, die mich seit Beginn meines Bachelors in allen Lebenssi- tuationen unterstützt hat. Wir hatten leider oftmals nur wenig Zeit füreinander. Danke an all meine Arbeitskollegen und Arbeitskolleginnen, die mich beim Prokrastinie- ren unterstützt haben. Danke an meine Familie (Manuela & Werner), die mich seit meiner Kindheit in meinen Vorhaben unterstützt haben. Ein besonderer Dank geht dabei an meine Oma Erika, die Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. zwar den Beginn meiner Reise erleben durfte, allerdings leider nicht mehr das Ende. Sie verstarb im April 2019. vii Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. Acknowledgements Cui honorem, honorem. Thanks Florian Güldenpfennig for supporting me throughout the journey of this disser- tation. You not only were my supervisor, mentor, and mental support, you also became a close friend. Thanks to Peter Purgathofer for giving me the opportunity to work with you at the (former) IGW, and for giving me my ‘breathing room for doing my own thing’, which ended up in the research for this dissertation. Thanks to Michael Habiger, who has been a companion since Day 1 at TU. Without his think-positive-in-any-life-situation-attitude, I would definitely not been able to bring this dissertation to an end. Friend, I love you. Thanks to Peter Fikar, who was (almost) always available for advice regarding game design related questions. He was even so kind to support some of our publications with his drawings, making them visually appealing. Co-founder of Vibrette. Thanks to Franziska Metz, who has supported me since the beginning of my Bachelor studies in all life situations. We often had little time. Thanks to my working colleagues, with whom I could procrastinate together. Thanks to my family (Manuela & Werner), who has supported me since my childhood. Special thanks to my grandmother Erika, who saw my beginning but unfortunately cannot see the end of this journey, since she passed away in April 2019. Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. ix Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. Kurzfassung Audiospiele sind Computerspiele deren Hauptfeedback aus Ton besteht. Statt visuellem Feedback werden dabei Elemente, die in Videospielen typischerweise grafisch repräsentiert werden, wie beispielsweise ein Gegner oder eine Türe, rein auditiv vermittelt. Dadurch wird Ton in Audiospielen eine beinahe gegensätzliche Rolle im Vergleich zu Ton in Videospielen zugeschrieben. Er ist dabei nicht ‘nur’ für die Immersion verantwortlich, sondern unter anderem auch für die Sonifizierung von Spielobjekten sowie die rein auditive Darstellung von Menüs. Während sich die Videospielindustrie in den letzten Jahrzehnten zu einer Milliardenindustrie für ein Massenpublikum entwickelt hat, stellen Audiospiele eine Nische dar. Diese Spiele werden hauptsächlich durch Amateure und Amateurinnen sowie Akademikerinnen und Akademiker erstellt. Allerdings hat diese Spielenische ihre Daseinsberechtigung, denn sie stellt eine der wenigen Möglichkeiten für Menschen mit verschiedenster Seheinschränkungen dar, welche es ihnen, unabhängig von Menschen ohne Seheinschränkungen, ermöglicht, Computerspiele zu spielen. Leider fordert dieses Nischendasein auch seinen Tribut; denn Audiospiele bekommen deutlich weniger Aufmerksamkeit, verglichen mit Videospielen, in der Wissenschaft und Praxis zugeschrieben, wodurch der Forschungsstand deutlich hinter dem von Videospielen liegt. Das Ziel dieser Dissertation war die Bearbeitung zweier deutlich vernachlässigter Aspekte bei Audiospielen, die unserer Ansicht nach in der Literatur bisher zu kurz gekommen sind. Einerseits wurden bis dato keine tatsächlichen Audiospielerinnen oder -spieler bzw. Audiodesignerinnen oder -designer (in Folge Audiospielexpertinnen und -experten), also Personen die beispielsweise auch in ihrer Freizeit gerne Audiospiele konsumieren und gestalten, in die Audiospielforschung involviert. Das zeigt sich vor allem in Studien, in denen Personen teilgenommen haben, die zuvor keinerlei Audiospielerfahrung hatten. Dadurch fehlt ihnen die Erfahrung und Leidenschaft, welche authentische Audiospielex- pertinnen und -experten in solch eine Studie mitnehmen würden. Andererseits wurde es bisher in der Literatur verabsäumt, genauer zu beforschen wie Designerinnen und Designer neue Audiospiele kreieren und welche Tools sie dafür verwenden; wobei es durchaus wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen gibt, die Empfehlungen oder Regeln zum Erstellen von Audiospielen geben und dadurch den Audiospieldesignprozess unterstützen. Um diese zwei Punkte forschungsmethodisch bestmöglich behandeln zu können, wurden Die approbierte gedruckte Originalversion dieser Dissertation ist an der TU Wien Bibliothek verfügbar. The approved original version of this doctoral thesis is available in print at TU Wien Bibliothek. für diese Dissertation drei sich gegenseitig unterstützende, unabhängige Forschungsstränge ins Leben gerufen. Erstens, eine tiefgehende Literaturanalyse die unter anderem; zweitens,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Design Guidelines for Audio Games
    Design Guidelines for Audio Games Franco Eusébio Garcia and Vânia Paula de Almeida Neris Federal University of Sao Carlos (UFSCar), Sao Carlos, Brazil {franco.garcia,vania}@dc.ufscar.br Abstract. This paper presents guidelines to aid on the design of audio games. Audio games are games on which the user interface and game events use pri- marily sounds instead of graphics to convey information to the player. Those games can provide an accessible gaming experience to visually impaired play- ers, usually handicapped by conventional games. The presented guidelines resulted of existing literature research on audio games design and implementa- tion, of a case study and of a user observation performed by the authors. The case study analyzed how audio is used to create an accessible game on nine au- dio games recommended for new players. The user observation consisted of a playtest on which visually impaired users played an audio game, on which some interaction problems were identified. The results of those three studies were analyzed and compiled in 50 design guidelines. Keywords: audio games, accessibility, visual impairment, design, guidelines. 1 Introduction The evolution of digital interfaces continually provides simpler, easier and more intui- tive ways of interaction. Especially in games, the way a player interacts with the system may affect his/her overall playing experience, immersion and satisfaction. Currently, game interfaces mostly rely on graphics to convey information to the play- er. Albeit being an effective way to convey information to the average user, graphical interfaces might be partially or even totally inaccessible to the visually impaired. Those users are either unable or have a hard time playing a conventional game, as the graphical content of the user interface is usually essential to the gameplay.
    [Show full text]
  • Playing with Sound and Gesture in Digital Audio Games
    “proceedings” — 2015/7/27 — 18:40 — page 423 — #435 A. Weisbecker, M. Burmester & A. Schmidt (Hrsg.): Mensch und Computer 2015 Workshopband, Stuttgart: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2015, S. 423-429. Playing with sound and gesture in digital audio games Dr. Sonia Fizek 1, Dr. Julie Woletz 2, Jarosław Beksa 3 Gamification Lab, Centre for Digital Cultures, Leuphana University Lüneburg 1 Media Uselab, Centre for Digital Cultures, Leuphana University Lüneburg 2 School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland University of Technology 3 Abstract This article introduces the genre of a digital audio game and discusses selected play interaction solu- tions implemented in the Audio Game Hub , a prototype designed and evaluated in the years 2014 and 2015 at the Gamification Lab at Leuphana University Lüneburg. 1 The Audio Game Hub constitutes a set of familiar playful activities (aiming at a target, reflex-based reacting to sound signals, labyrinth exploration) and casual games (e.g. Tetris , Memory ) adapted to the digital medium and converted into the audio sphere, where the player is guided predominantly or solely by sound. The authors will discuss the design questions raised at early stages of the project, and confront them with the results of user experience testing performed on two groups of sighted and one group of visually impaired gamers. 1 Introducing digital audio games Have you been mesmerized in your childhood by playing the “ blind man's buff“? Or maybe you always wondered why the fables read out by your parents were far more magical than their counterparts watched on the TV screen? After all, sounds have limitless potential to create beautifully immersive sceneries without the help of a single paintbrush or animated pixel.
    [Show full text]
  • A Case Study of Audio Game Hub
    25 TH I NTERNATIONAL C ONFERENCE O N I NFORMATION S YSTEMS D EVELOPMENT (ISD2016 P OLAND ) Adapting Videogame Interfaces for the Visually Impaired: A Case Study of Audio Game Hub Jaroslaw Beksa [email protected] Auckland University of Technology, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland, New Zealand Alexandra Garkavenko [email protected] Auckland University of Technology, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland, New Zealand Sonia Fizek [email protected] Gamification Lab, Centre for Digital Cultures, Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany Shahper Vodanovich [email protected] Auckland University of Technology , Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland, New Zealand Phil Carter [email protected] Auckland University of Technology, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland, New Zealand Abstract Technology applications including games are generally not designed with the blind or visually impaired in mind. This is an invaluable area of research as it is this population that would benefit the most from accessible technology enabling inclusion and participation in society. “Nobody makes ga mes for us” was a motivator for this research. This paper describes the process of creating a set of audio games for the visually impaired. The principles of audio game design are discussed and based upon these the Audio Game Hub is proposed. Audio Game Hu b is currently a set of four audio games that have suitable interfaces for the visually impaired. Audio Game Hub is currently available for download on multiple platforms and has seen popularity with both visually impaired and normal sighted players, which provides an area for future research. Keywords: audio game, user interface , visually impaired, video game .
    [Show full text]
  • Game Audio in Audio Games Towards a Theory on the Roles and Functions of Sound in Audio Games
    Dalarna University College Sound and Music Production 180 ECTS Credits Bachelor Programme Bachelor Degree Thesis Game Audio in Audio Games Towards a Theory on the Roles and Functions of Sound in Audio Games Written by Rickard Åsén Supervisor: Johnny Wingstedt Course coordinator: Toivo Burlin Examiner: Jacob Derkert Publishing year: 2013 B A C H E L O R D E G R E E T HESIS G A M E A U D I O I N A U D I O G AMES Abstract For the past few decades, researchers have increased our understanding of how sound functions within various audio–visual media formats. With a different focus in mind, this study aims to identify the roles and functions of sound in relation to the game form Audio Games, in order to explore the potential of sound when acting as an autonomous narrative form. Because this is still a relatively unexplored research field, the main purpose of this study is to help establish a theoretical ground and stimulate further research within the field of audio games. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach to the topic, this research relies on theoretical studies, examinations of audio games and contact with the audio game community. In order to reveal the roles of sound, the gathered data is analyzed according to both a contextual and a functional perspective. The research shows that a distinction between the terms ‘function’ and ‘role’ is important when analyzing sound in digital games. The analysis therefore results in the identification of two analytical levels that help define the functions and roles of an entity within a social context, named the Functional and the Interfunctional levels.
    [Show full text]
  • A Survey on Sound-Based Games
    JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS & OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT A SURVEY ON SOUND-BASED GAMES Diana-Elena BELMEGA 1* Costin-Anton BOIANGIU 2 ABSTRACT This paper aims to explore the realm of sound-based games and to discover this field originality, challenges and advancements. Fully discovering and enjoying a sound-based game does not mean only to pay attention to the various sounds that “surrounds” the player, but to try to construct in player’s imagination the world that generated them. This is a world where imagination, music composition, sound generation, imaginative plots and a lot of modern technologies intersect. In recent years, a consistent list of titles from all the game territories (action, adventure, survival thriller, stealth thriller, mystery, horror, psychological, first-person shooter, and puzzle-based adventure) have emerged. The paper at hand tried to make a novelty-based selection of the representative games and will try to understand their main concept, and their contributions to the genre. KEYWORDS: Sound-Based Games, Sense Substitution, Binaural Audio, Sonic Landscape, Soundscape, VR Headset, Doppler Effect. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. About sound-based games While having sound in a game is common nowadays, when referring to sound-based games, one means that these games put an emphasis on the sound and use it as one of the main mechanisms of the game. One example is using sound intensity to guide the player towards its source in a dark environment. 1.2. Action game As explained in the book Fundamentals of Game Design, by Ernest Adams, an action game is a game in which the player’s physical skills and coordination are tested [1].
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Audio Storytelling in Mobile Exergames to Affect the Perception of Physical Exercise
    Exploring Audio Storytelling in Mobile Exergames to Affect the Perception of Physical Exercise Luca Chittaro and Francesco Zuliani HCI Lab, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science University of Udine, Italy [email protected], [email protected] Abstract—Exergames (video games that combine exercise and ing a physical activity is hard. For these reasons, the design of play) can make the experience of physical activities more enjoy- effective mobile exergames requires alternative solutions to the able. Mobile exergames are particularly interesting as they can use of graphics as a primary element to engage the player in the be used for outdoors, open-air physical activities. Unfortunately, game. Therefore, our research pursued two main goals. First, current mobile exergames tend to require the player to frequently we wanted to explore how to use audio storytelling techniques or continuously look at the screen. This can be hard to do while to make physical exercise more engaging and enjoyable by exercising, and it also requires the player to considerably distract visual attention from the surrounding physical environment, exploiting a soundscape that provides prompt feedback in introducing safety issues in activities such as outdoor running. In response to players’ activity, and does not require the player to this paper, we focus on two main goals. First, we explore how to look at the screen during running. Second, we wanted to study use audio storytelling techniques to make physical exercise more if the exergame was fun for users and if it could positively engaging and enjoyable by exploiting a soundscape that provides affect the perception of physical exercise.
    [Show full text]
  • Coding Vs. Aesthetics
    Game Audio : Coding vs. Aesthetics Leonard J. Paul info [at] lotusaudio.com Abstract The key to creating successful immersive game audio to balance the technical and creative elements. Too often one is sacrificed at the expense of the other due to their assumed opposing natures. In the “good old days” of video game audio, one person would wear both hats of audio coder and sound designer/composer. In today’s video game world with escalating budgets and highly complex game platforms, the work must be split between several people, which threatens to increase this fundamental rift. In an effort to bridge this problem we should approach audio production from the creative and technical viewpoints simultaneously to arrive at the desired goal of successful game audio. Topics 1) Prototyping 2) Peer Review 3) Audio Control Parameters 4) Voice and Memory Usage 5) Tools 6) Automated Dynamic Mixing Video Game Audio Process Levels Level 1: Largely unaware of existing practices. Misapplication of practices. Level 2: Aware of existing practices. Application of existing techniques. Level 3: Proactive practice of techniques. Apply and create new effective techniques. Usage Terms The term “composer” is used to mean sound artist, sound designer or otherwise the person creating audio content for the game and deciding how it should play. “Coder” is a term meant to apply to the game audio programmer or otherwise the person responsible for realizing the structures which control the audio playback in the game. Coding vs. Aesthetics Many things have changed from the days of “bleeps and bloops” of yesteryear to our multi- channel 3D digital surround-sound audio systems of today, but the basic context in which we create video game audio has remained primarily unchanged.
    [Show full text]
  • Audio-Based Game for Visually Impaired Children Bachelor Thesis
    Audio-based game for visually impaired children Bachelor Thesis J.T. Coppoolse W.J.L. van Dam Technische Universiteit Delft AUDIO-BASED GAME FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN BACHELOR THESIS by J.T. Coppoolse W.J.L. van Dam in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at Delft University of Technology, to be defended on the 29th of June, 2015. Supervisors: dr. ir. R. Hendriks S. Khademi, M.Sc. Thesis committee: dr. ir. M. A. P.Pertijs dr. ir. R. Hendriks dr. ir. R. F.Wolffenbuttel ABSTRACT This thesis was made for the Bachelor Graduation Project (Electrical Engineering). The purpose of the project was to design an audio-based game for visually impaired children. In this thesis the gameplay and the graph- ical user interface are designed. We choose to make a simplified dungeon crawler in the programming language Python. We designed tutori- als and levels for the game. For the tutorials the methods interaural time difference and interaural intensity difference are used to simulate localised audio. For the levels more advanced audio simulation methods are used, but these are provided by two other groups of students. A graphical user interface is made for validation purposes and for parents and caretakers of the visually impaired children. The game is tested with visually impaired children and sighted students. The controls of the game were too complex for young children and the game was not completely accessible for the visually impaired. However, almost all test subjects were able to learn the mechanics of the game and complete levels on their own.
    [Show full text]
  • December 2018 History Marketing Experience Criticism Psychology Social Aspects Future Editorial Journal Board Orientation
    Acta Ludologica Faculty of Mass Media Communication Vol. 1, No.2Vol. Theory Education Design Development Research December 2018 History Marketing Experience Criticism Psychology Social Aspects Future Editorial Journal Board Orientation Editor-In-Chief Acta Ludologica is a scientific journal in the field of digital Zdenko Mago games. The journal contains professional scientific reflec- tions on digital games; it also offers academic discourses on games, especially media and digital competencies, cre- Deputy Managing Editors ation, design, marketing, research, development, psycho- Zuzana Bučková Martin Solík logy, sociology, history and the future of digital games and game studies. Indexing Process and Technical Editor Zuzana Bučková Acta Ludologica is a double-blind peer reviewed jour- nal published twice a year. It focuses on theoretical stud- ies, theoretical and empirical studies, research results and Technical Editors their implementation into practice, as well as professional Nikola Kaňuková Miroslav Kapec publication reviews. English Editor Michael Valek Distribution Lenka Ďurišová Online Content Manager Johny Domanský Acta Ludologica Vol. 1, No. 2, December 2018 Advisory Board Masayuki Uemura Peter A. Bruck Publisher Malgorzata Luszczak Faculty of Mass Media Communication Juraj Malíček University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava Jaroslav Světlík Námestie Jozefa Herdu 2 917 01 Trnava Editorial Team SLOVAK REPUBLIC Anna Hurajová Michal Kabát IČO: 360 789 13 Monika Porubanová Price: 1,99 € Hana Pravdová Published twice a year. Illustrations Filip Streďanský ISSN 2585-8599 e-ISSN 2585-9218 Graphic Production Coordinator & Cover EV 5620/18 Martin Klementis Martin Graca ACTA LUDOLOGICA Editorial Contents Slovakia on the Game Studies’ Map GAME Slovakia has never been very affable to grounds, originating from our region.
    [Show full text]
  • DIGITAL GAMES for SPECIAL NEEDS; SPECIAL NEEDS for DIGITAL GAMES Edited by E
    ISSN 2280-7705 The Italian Journal www.gamejournal.it Associazione Culturale LUDICA of Game Studies Games as Art, Media, Entertainment Issue 07, 2018 – volume 1 JOURNAL (PEER-REVIEWED) DIGITAL GAMES FOR SPECIAL NEEDS; SPECIAL NEEDS FOR DIGITAL GAMES Edited by E. Gandolfi, K. Calabria, R.E. Ferdig Extase (ERE Informatique, 1991) – Graphics by Michel Rho. GAME JOURNAL – Peer-Reviewed Section Issue 07 – 2018 GAME Journal Games as Art, Media, Entertainment G|A|M|E is an international, peer-reviewed, free access games studies journal. G|A|M|E publishes one monographic issue per year A PROJECT BY SUPERVISING EDITORS Associazione Culturale LUDICA Antioco Floris (Università di Cagliari), Roy Menarini (Università di Bologna), Peppino Ortoleva (Università di Torino), Reggio Calabria IT & London UK Leonardo Quaresima (Università di Udine). HQ: Via Vittorio Veneto 33 89123 Reggio Calabria, Italy Offices: 10 Finians Close, EDITORS London UB10 9NW, UK Marco Benoît Carbone (Brunel University London), Giovanni Caruso (Università di Udine), Riccardo Fassone (Università di Torino), Gabriele Ferri (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences), Ivan Girina (Brunel University, London), Federico In association with filmforumfestival.it Giordano (Università per Stranieri di Perugia), Ilaria Mariani (Politecnico di Milano), Valentina Paggiarin (Hive Division), Paolo Ruffino (University of Lincoln), Mauro Salvador (Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia), Marco Teti (Università eCampus). WITH THE PATRONAGE OF Università di Cagliari ASSOCIATED EDITORS Dipartimento di Storia, Beni Culturali e Territorio Stefano Baschiera (Queen’s University, Belfast), Stefano Gualeni (University of Malta). PARTNERS ADVISORY BOARD Espen Aarseth (IT University of Copenaghen), Matteo Bittanti (IULM Milano), Jay David Bolter (Georgia Institute of Technology), Gordon C.
    [Show full text]
  • Bringing Roguelikes to Visually-Impaired Players by Using NLP
    Proceedings of the LREC 2020 Workshop Games and Natural Language Processing, pages 59–67 Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (LREC 2020), Marseille, 11–16 May 2020 c European Language Resources Association (ELRA), licensed under CC-BY-NC Bringing Roguelikes to Visually-Impaired Players by Using NLP Jesus´ Vilares, Carlos Gomez-Rodr´ ´ıguez, Lu´ıs Fernandez-N´ u´nez,˜ Dar´ıo Penas, Jorge Viteri Universidade da Coruna,˜ CITIC, LyS Research Group, Dept. of Computer Science & Information Technologies Facultade de Informatica,´ Campus de Elvina,˜ 15071 – A Coruna,˜ Spain fjesus.vilares,carlos.gomez,[email protected] ffernandezn.luis,[email protected] Abstract Although the roguelike video game genre has a large community of fans (both players and developers) and the graphic aspect of these games is usually given little relevance (ASCII-based graphics are not rare even today), their accessibility for blind players and other visually-impaired users remains a pending issue. In this document, we describe an initiative for the development of roguelikes adapted to visually-impaired players by using Natural Language Processing techniques, together with the first completed games resulting from it. These games were developed as Bachelor’s and Master’s theses. Our approach consists in integrating a multilingual module that, apart from the classic ASCII-based graphical interface, automatically generates text descriptions of what is happening within the game. The visually-impaired user can then read such descriptions by means of a screen reader. In these projects we seek expressivity and variety in the descriptions, so we can offer the users a fun roguelike experience that does not sacrifice any of the key characteristics that de- fine the genre.
    [Show full text]
  • Creating and Playing Audio Games in the Cloud
    Interactivity Session CHI PLAY'19, October 22–25, 2019, Barcelona, Spain Drag ‘n’ Hear: Creating, Playing, and Understanding Audio Games Online Michael Urbanek Abstract TU Wien Since the last couple of years, we have been aiming to Vienna, Austria advance our understanding of the audio games design [email protected] process. As audio games are computer games that rely on sound only, they demand or invite the players to ‘build the game world in their mind’. Hence, compared to video Michael Habiger games, missing visual information is filled in and created TU Wien by mental imaginary. This makes the genre exciting and Vienna, Austria simultaneously open to both players with or without visual [email protected] impairments. In terms of game design, audio games, how- ever, bring additional challenges to the process. How does a designer sketch games that he or she cannot see? To Florian Güldenpfennig explore such issues, we created an open-sourced online New Design University audio game editor that can function as a sketchbook for au- St. Pölten, Austria dio games. By studying how people use the editor to create fl[email protected] audio games, we hope to better understand audio game de- sign and foster the growth of this interesting game genre. Author Keywords Audio Games; Audio Game Editor; Audio Game Engine; Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or Web-based; Platform; Design Process; Research Through classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation Design on the first page.
    [Show full text]