Blind gamers may soon be able to play racing video games on a level footing with sighted players, using a device which turns a visual display into sound.
Columbia University engineering PhD candidate Brian Smith has developed the RAD (racing auditory display) so visually-impaired gamers can play the same types of racing games - with the same speed, control and excitement - that sighted players play.
The audio-based interface, which a player can listen to using a standard pair of headphones, can be integrated by developers into almost any racing video game, making a popular genre of games equally accessible to people who are blind.
“The RAD is the first system to make it possible for people who are blind to play a ‘real’ 3D racing game, with full 3D graphics, realistic vehicle physics, complex racetracks, and a standard PlayStation 4 controller,” says Smith, who worked on the project with computer science Professor Shree Nayar. “It’s not a dumbed-down version of a racing game tailored specifically to people who are blind.”
While there are a number of games on the market suitable for the blind, many are loaded with competing sources of information that players must sift through, slowing down the fun of playing the game. Others are versions of popular games so simplified that a blind gamer does nothing more than follow orders. There has been a fundamental tradeoff between preserving a game’s full complexity and its pace when making it blind-accessible.
