Audio Radar helps gamers with hearing loss 'see' sound effects instead

Audio cues can sometimes be crucial to success in games. Developers often design the sound environment so that their experiences are not only rich and immersive, but also contain clues about approaching enemies or dangers. Players who are hard of hearing may not benefit from this and it is not fair that they are at a disadvantage due to a disability. A product called Audio Radar launched at CES 2024 and it can help turn audio cues into visual cues, so hearing-impaired gamers can “see sound,” according to company AirDrop Gaming LLC.

The setup is quite simple. A box plugs into a game console to interpret the audio output and converts that data into lights. A series of RGB light bars surround the screen and display different colors depending on the type of sound coming from the respective direction they represent. Simply put, this means that if you walk around a Minecraft world, as I did at the company's booth at the trade show, you'll see different colored lights appear on the different bars.

Red lights mean enemy sounds are in the area adjacent to the corresponding light, while green means neutral sounds. An on-screen caption also explains the meaning of the sounds, although this may only relate to the modified Minecraft scenario on display at CES.

A close-up of the lower right corner of a monitor, with an on-screen caption showing the words
Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

I briefly walked around the stage and could see green lights hovering over a pen of farm animals, while purple lights floated in tandem with a dragon flying above. I found this a bit confusing, but that's probably more because I know very little about Minecraft, and as a hearing person I might not appreciate the added information as much as someone who is not.

With an SDK launched by the company at the show, developers will be able to customize the lights and visual feedback of elements in their game to control what their hearing-impaired players see. In the meantime, Audio Radar uses its own software to detect stereo or surround sound signals in order to convert them into light and color returns.

While the product may seem in its early stages, various major gaming companies have appeared to express interest in Audio Radar. AirDrop Gaming CEO Tim Murphy told me that Logitech is “providing support as we further develop our product and design our go-to-market strategy.” Additionally, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was spotted at the booth on opening day.

Audio Radar begins marketing on a broader level this year and the company continues to develop products for deaf and hard of hearing gamers, among others. The system works with Xbox, PlayStation and PC.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Follow all the news from the show here.

This article was originally published on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio-radar-helps-gamers-with-hearing-loss-see-sound-effects-instead-195001226.html?src= rss

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