AudiOdyssey: MIT Helps Visually Impaired Get Game
June 04, 2008
I'm partial to new and different kinds of video and computer gaming, so I really love to pass along stories like this one.
AudiOdyssey is a game designed for the Nintendo Wii system was developed in Flash to run on Windows PCs (see comment correcting me below). If your PC has Bluetooth, and you happen to have a Nintendo Wii controller, or Wiimote as it's called, then you can play the game that way.
The game is the brainchild of a group of seven students at the Singapore-MIT Gambit Game Lab. The idea behind AudiOdyssey is to create a video game that visually impaired people could play with their sighted friends.
Needless to say, the focus of AudiOdyssey is on audio. The game, which can be downloaded for free here, simulates a deejay trying to lay down tracks, build a catchy tune, and get people dancing. The player swings the Nintendo Wii remote to set the rhythm, and add tracks.
Get people dancing, though, and they might bump your turntable, and screw up your scratches!
The Wii controller was key to the game's development. The Wiimote has opened up gaming to what are called in the business "non-traditional gamers," women and older folks. That got Gambit student Eitan Glinert thinking, who was still left behind? “People with disabilities had been left behind. I began to speculate, how could you bring these people into the fold and have them be able to play these games?” Glinert says.
He started looking into it, and discovered that there were some 200 titles already available for the visually impaired. But then Gilbert noticed something about those titles:
As a sighted player, I was unable to play any of these.The games had been so specifically adapted for sound and tactile play that they gave the visually impaired too much of an advantage, making it impractical for them to play with sighted friends. There were games for sighted people, games for blind people, and never the twain shall meet. I thought, maybe I could build a game that could be played by both, equally well.
Glinert and others have been working on the game since last year. It's still a prototype. Think about how difficult this is -- to try to create a challenging, engaging game that works equally well on both audio and visual levels. Tough. Pong, it isn't, let me tell you.
Oh, and if you're without a Wiimote, don't worry. The game can also be played via the keyboard.
Are you ready for the experience? Catch a video of some game play!
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Thanks for the interest! Unfortunately, there is one thing that should be clarified — AudiOdyssey isn’t a Wii game, it’s a game developed in Flash to run on PCs with optional Wiimote connectivity via Bluetooth. Maybe someday, but not yet. :)
Posted by: Geoffrey Long | June 05, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Cool stuff! Good find Clark.
Posted by: Eric | June 05, 2008 at 06:05 PM