WEBVTT

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[SQUEAKING]

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[RUSTLING]

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[CLICKING]

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PROFESSOR: Take it away.

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GWEN EDGAR: All right, we
would like a volunteer.

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And I believe we have someone
who enthusiastically offered.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Yep.

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So we would prefer you not to
look at the computer screen.

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GUEST SPEAKER: OK.

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RIO LAVIGNE: And just stand--

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GWEN EDGAR: --facing
the audience.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Yeah, the audience.

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This will be great.

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Try not to disconnect the wire.

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GUEST SPEAKER: OK.

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RIO LAVIGNE: We apologize.

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This is still very
much a prototype.

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GUEST SPEAKER: Oh, I'm
glad you picked Rondos.

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These fit me better.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Same.

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And this may take a moment to--

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GWEN EDGAR: Should
we plug it in?

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RIO LAVIGNE: Oh, yes.

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Now-- no looking.

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No looking.

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No looking.

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Right, so as you
can tell, this game

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is meant to be played
without any visual input.

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In fact, do you hear
things, by the way?

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GWEN EDGAR: This
is the game view.

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For those that aren't
super familiar,

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this is our scene view.

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Because we wanted you to
see what was going on.

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This is what the
phone would show.

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RIO LAVIGNE: OK, so
wait just a moment.

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You should be-- I'm
going to just check.

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Hold on.

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Face forward.

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OK, great, you're calibrated.

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So I turned off the
screen so you can see what

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our play tester is looking at.

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GWEN EDGAR: Well,
facing towards.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Facing towards.

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Yes, so our play tester
hears a hey over here.

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In this game, you
move using head tilts.

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So you tilt your head forward
or down to move forward.

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You tilt your head
backwards to move backwards.

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GWEN EDGAR: And
this is the player.

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RIO LAVIGNE: So the
teal dot is the player.

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And you can turn to
face the sound source

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and tilt your head down to
move towards the sound source.

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If you hit a wall,
you'll go bonk.

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GUEST SPEAKER: Is that what
that big bonking, knocking sound

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was now?

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RIO LAVIGNE: Yes.

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We still have to
work out the balances

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between all the sounds.

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GUEST SPEAKER: I seem
to have hit a wall.

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But I'm moving backwards.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Tilt
your head back.

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Yep.

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GUEST SPEAKER: Is the
over here spacialized?

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RIO LAVIGNE: Yes.

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Yes.

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GUEST SPEAKER: It's behind me.

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How do I go backwards?

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RIO LAVIGNE: Tilt
your head back.

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GUEST SPEAKER: Oh
no, not that way.

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I like the footsteps.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Yes.

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GUEST SPEAKER: It's
asking me what I'm doing.

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Like, what are you doing?

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OK, this is really hard.

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RIO LAVIGNE: All
right, congratulations,

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you found the first one.

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Now there's another one.

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GUEST SPEAKER:
Oh, more, correct.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Oh great, yeah.

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GUEST SPEAKER: OK,
someone else want to try?

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Or should I keep going?

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RIO LAVIGNE: Keep going
for a little longer.

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GUEST SPEAKER: I'm doing
something else now?

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RIO LAVIGNE: Yeah,
you're going to try

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to find the target again.

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So this is actually
our calibration level.

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So you got it.

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GWEN EDGAR: We found that the
calibration level was really

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useful for giving a frame
of reference for distances

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and how far--

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what the sound is and how
it sounds further away.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Yep.

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Yeah, so maybe try
find one more target.

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And we can move to the next.

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What is going on?

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OK, well, that
happens sometimes.

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GUEST SPEAKER:
[INAUDIBLE] this way.

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Nope, too far.

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Too far.

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I can tell it's over here, but
I don't know how to get there.

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RIO LAVIGNE: If
you-- because the--

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you can turn
yourself, by the way.

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You can rotate.

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And you will now
face that direction.

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GUEST SPEAKER: There's
a wall right here.

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I kept knocking.

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I'm going to go this way.

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Why do I keep hearing
a [INAUDIBLE]??

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There we go.

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No?

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AUDIENCE: Might be
that the sound source

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is very close to a wall.

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RIO LAVIGNE: That's true, yeah.

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Well, we don't want to
take up too much time

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from our presentation.

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No, pff, we anticipated
people to have difficulties.

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Here, do you want to take a look
at what the game looks like?

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So you're the teal player.

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GWEN EDGAR: So the
first one was here.

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And then it moved up here.

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And then it went across.

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GUEST SPEAKER: Oh, it moves.

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RIO LAVIGNE: It did move.

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GUEST SPEAKER: Oh.

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GWEN EDGAR: Surprise.

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OK,

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GUEST SPEAKER: Yep.

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Yep.

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RIO LAVIGNE: And
we actually want

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to showcase one more level.

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This time I'll put it
on, put the glasses on.

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Because it's-- unless--
do you want to try?

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GUEST SPEAKER: No.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Nobody's
very good at it,

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by the way, when they start out.

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But people do get used to it.

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GUEST SPEAKER: Yes.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Oh, I'm
bonking into a well.

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Fun times.

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So we also want to showcase a
little bit of level 2, maybe.

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AUDIENCE: So you've had
people go through this?

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GWEN EDGAR: Yes.

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People--

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AUDIENCE: Do they recognize
the sound behind them

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versus in front of them OK?

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GWEN EDGAR: So this
is one of the points

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we were going to
bring up before.

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It's very difficult to
tell in front or behind.

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But as you move, you
can hear whether you're

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getting closer or further away.

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AUDIENCE: And is that
done with louder?

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Or is that done with
some other sound effect?

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GWEN EDGAR: That's done--

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so we actually were
wanting to do something

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where, when you're
facing it, it actually

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gets a little bit louder.

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So you know you're looking
in the correct direction.

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Right now that's
not very dynamic.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Yeah, I'm having
technical difficulties.

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We'll show off level 2 later.

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AUDIENCE: Are you using
any particular spacializer

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for the sound?

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Or is this just like panning?

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RIO LAVIGNE: Well, it's--

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GWEN EDGAR: We have
a different rolloff,

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but we're just using
what Unity afforded us.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Well,
Unity plus Bose AR.

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So as you noticed, later on,
you can turn yourself and then

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move.

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AUDIENCE: Right.

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GWEN EDGAR: Yes.

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Thank you all for being here.

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This is our presentation
for going in blind.

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I'm Gwen Edgar, and
this is my teammate.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Rio Levine.

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GWEN EDGAR: And welcome.

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So first, we're going
to start you off

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with the background
on blind gaming.

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RIO LAVIGNE: Right.

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So actually, blind gaming
has been around basically

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since video gaming was a thing.

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When I'm talking
about blind gaming,

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I mean electronic gaming.

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So starting in the
'70s, Atari came out

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with this game called Touch Me.

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And it had flashing lights.

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And it made noises.

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So it was actually accessible
to people who couldn't see.

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Also, all of these
text-based role-playing games

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were getting popular.

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And if you had a text
to speech software,

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a visually impaired player
could play those as well.

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But console games, action
games were very limited.

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But gamers are going to game.

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So blind gamers played
video games anyway.

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So they could use
text to speech,

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and just based
off of sound cues,

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navigate through
very complex levels,

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completing games like 2D
Punch Out, Super Mario 64.

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A blind gamer has even
completed Ocarina of Time,

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if you've ever played that game,
it's crazy without visuals.

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Even Resident Evil 4 was
accidentally accessible.

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Because if you pressed
pause, your character

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would reorient themselves
to face towards the goal

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that they were trying to get to.

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Fighting games, like
2D fighting games,

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are actually pretty
accessible, because they

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have binaural sound.

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You can tell which side
your opponent is on.

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So Mortal Kombat, Street
Fighter-- both pretty

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accessible.

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And blind players
have even been known

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to play first-person shooters.

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So as long as there
are enough sound cues,

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it seems like blind players
can play these games.

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And that brings us to--

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GWEN EDGAR: --our
audio-only platformer,

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which, as you can
see, you see nothing.

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You have to use only
audio cues to navigate

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throughout the
space, because it's

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using a lot of binaural inputs.

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So you're able to tell in what
direction different things are.

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As you all know, we're using the
Bose glasses for this project.

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And there are a
couple of gestures

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that are automatically
integrated,

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such as nodding your
head, shaking your head,

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and double-tapping.

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We were exploring
these different things.

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And so first, we were trying
to do movement with head

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nods-- so step,
step, step, step.

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And we found this
got really tiring.

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And it was hard to know,
were you taking a small step?

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Were you taking a big step?

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How far am I going?

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Like, how do I get through these
different types of movements?

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So we decided to look at
something else, which,

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as you saw, you tilt your
head down to move forward.

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If you're looking this
way, you go this way.

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You tilt your head
back to go back.

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And this allowed for a
certain smoothness of walking.

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And the foot--
you hear footsteps

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as you move forward, which
gives a sense of you being

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in the place and a
sense of that movement

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that you're playing towards.

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And as you turn your head,
your direction will change.

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You might have seen
a couple of times

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that there was a curve happening
because of motions like this.

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So that brings us back
to the Bose glasses.

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We were using the
gyroscopes a lot,

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which meant we couldn't
use the head nod or shake,

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because they were kind
of using the same thing.

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And if you're trying to move
forward, you can't do this.

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And those were the sensors.

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So that left us with one
thing, the double-tap.

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Now what does any
platformer need?

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RIO LAVIGNE: Well, Gwen, I
think it needs platforms.

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GWEN EDGAR: Exactly.

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What do you need for platforms?

00:09:36.990 --> 00:09:39.030
Jumping.

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So we decided to move that
double-tap towards jumping.

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And so we were
thinking about, OK,

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so we're going to
double-tap to jump.

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But we want to
follow the platform.

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But if we're looking
at a platform up here,

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we might start
walking backwards.

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And if we're looking at
a platform down here,

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we might start walking forwards.

00:09:55.130 --> 00:09:56.880
So we were thinking,
all right, all right,

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we'll have a jump mode.

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So you double-tap first,
you enter jump mode,

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and then you don't move around.

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So you can look at
all your targets

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and not worry about
falling over an edge

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or going out of the zone.

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But this got really confusing.

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We had it such that three
missed jumps, you'd exit.

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It wasn't integrated very well.

00:10:14.990 --> 00:10:16.120
It didn't feel very smooth.

00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:17.640
It was kind of clunky.

00:10:17.640 --> 00:10:21.090
People were like, why
did I stop moving?

00:10:21.090 --> 00:10:26.920
So we decided to move away from
that, and instead, just jumped.

00:10:26.920 --> 00:10:29.110
And what this really meant
was that we could only

00:10:29.110 --> 00:10:32.440
design levels in certain ways
that looking at the platforms

00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:34.720
would be within
your range of motion

00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:37.450
without trying to go
outside of it any way.

00:10:37.450 --> 00:10:39.130
RIO LAVIGNE: Without,
like, moving.

00:10:39.130 --> 00:10:41.410
GWEN EDGAR: Along with the
jumping though, even more,

00:10:41.410 --> 00:10:43.870
was that if we just
tried to apply a force,

00:10:43.870 --> 00:10:45.880
the player could go
spiraling off into space.

00:10:45.880 --> 00:10:48.422
Because they didn't know that
there wasn't something for them

00:10:48.422 --> 00:10:49.010
to land on.

00:10:49.010 --> 00:10:50.843
And if we allowed them
to jump at any point,

00:10:50.843 --> 00:10:53.560
they might jump onto
a wall, and then fall,

00:10:53.560 --> 00:10:55.270
or go through the
wall, or fall down.

00:10:55.270 --> 00:10:58.300
And they don't know
why they failed.

00:10:58.300 --> 00:11:00.610
So instead, what we
did is we allowed

00:11:00.610 --> 00:11:01.790
jumping onto a platform.

00:11:01.790 --> 00:11:02.620
So if you're looking
at a platform,

00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:04.270
you just jump,
and it's all good.

00:11:04.270 --> 00:11:08.518
And if you don't, it's like,
nope, and doesn't let you.

00:11:08.518 --> 00:11:10.060
And we found that
worked pretty well.

00:11:10.060 --> 00:11:11.720
And it didn't upset players.

00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:12.970
That was very important to us.

00:11:12.970 --> 00:11:15.140
RIO LAVIGNE: Yes.

00:11:15.140 --> 00:11:18.680
So OK, we've gone over what
you can do within our game.

00:11:18.680 --> 00:11:20.390
Here are some of the
challenge we faced--

00:11:20.390 --> 00:11:24.470
challenges we've faced
when developing it so far.

00:11:24.470 --> 00:11:27.650
First challenge--
player orientation.

00:11:27.650 --> 00:11:31.430
Fortunately, it worked right off
the bat when we did our demo.

00:11:31.430 --> 00:11:32.280
That's good.

00:11:32.280 --> 00:11:35.210
But in general, if you
just start the game

00:11:35.210 --> 00:11:37.160
without doing any
kind of calibration,

00:11:37.160 --> 00:11:39.630
you're looking in
some random direction.

00:11:39.630 --> 00:11:42.817
So you need to make sure
to face the player forward.

00:11:42.817 --> 00:11:44.900
And since the last time
we gave this presentation,

00:11:44.900 --> 00:11:49.050
we found a method that faces
you forward towards the z-axis.

00:11:49.050 --> 00:11:51.260
But there's no way
to face and make

00:11:51.260 --> 00:11:53.638
the default any other
direction, which is fine.

00:11:53.638 --> 00:11:55.430
GWEN EDGAR: We just
built all of our levels

00:11:55.430 --> 00:11:58.590
along the positive z-axis.

00:11:58.590 --> 00:12:00.350
RIO LAVIGNE: Yep.

00:12:00.350 --> 00:12:01.803
Next challenge--

00:12:01.803 --> 00:12:04.220
GWEN EDGAR: Properties of audio
sources and the placements

00:12:04.220 --> 00:12:07.110
where we put them-- this was
discussed in some of the Bose

00:12:07.110 --> 00:12:09.260
lectures and in some
of the psychoacoustics

00:12:09.260 --> 00:12:10.740
lectures that we're
talking about.

00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:13.940
But yes, forward and behind,
you can't really differentiate.

00:12:13.940 --> 00:12:15.650
So if you're on a
platform and there's

00:12:15.650 --> 00:12:17.443
something moving
behind you, there's

00:12:17.443 --> 00:12:18.860
a platform moving
in front of you,

00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:21.020
you can't really
follow either platform.

00:12:21.020 --> 00:12:23.600
Because there's the-- you
can't focus on either source.

00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:25.955
They get very
muddled in your head.

00:12:25.955 --> 00:12:28.580
RIO LAVIGNE: If it's not clear,
the platforms are making sound.

00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:30.200
GWEN EDGAR: Yes, I'm sorry,
I forgot to mention that.

00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:32.242
The platforms make sounds
so you can follow them.

00:12:32.242 --> 00:12:33.770
So you'll get on a platform.

00:12:33.770 --> 00:12:35.750
We turn the volume
down on that platform,

00:12:35.750 --> 00:12:37.400
or else it's just overpowering.

00:12:37.400 --> 00:12:40.430
And when you leave it we turn
it off such that you can always

00:12:40.430 --> 00:12:42.665
detect what's in front of you.

00:12:42.665 --> 00:12:43.790
And that works really well.

00:12:43.790 --> 00:12:46.790
Because the audio
that is moving with

00:12:46.790 --> 00:12:51.237
you doesn't bother at all
with the other moving sources.

00:12:51.237 --> 00:12:53.570
So if you're on a platform,
it can still make its noise.

00:12:53.570 --> 00:12:55.712
And you can follow
one in front of you.

00:12:55.712 --> 00:12:56.420
RIO LAVIGNE: Yes.

00:12:56.420 --> 00:12:58.950
GWEN EDGAR: And ambient
noise also is fine to use.

00:12:58.950 --> 00:12:59.792
RIO LAVIGNE: Mm-hmm.

00:12:59.792 --> 00:13:01.250
GWEN EDGAR: But
also, as discussed,

00:13:01.250 --> 00:13:03.410
you can tell something's
left or right.

00:13:03.410 --> 00:13:05.270
And you're able to
turn towards those.

00:13:05.270 --> 00:13:07.402
RIO LAVIGNE: Yep.

00:13:07.402 --> 00:13:08.860
GWEN EDGAR: Limited
inputs, we were

00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:10.282
talking about this earlier.

00:13:10.282 --> 00:13:11.865
In a lot of games,
you have keyboards.

00:13:11.865 --> 00:13:13.750
So you can have
special abilities,

00:13:13.750 --> 00:13:15.430
and different modes
you can enter,

00:13:15.430 --> 00:13:17.080
and a bunch of
menus and whatnot.

00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:18.503
And with this, we had the two.

00:13:18.503 --> 00:13:20.170
And so we were working
a lot with those.

00:13:20.170 --> 00:13:22.450
And that was just one of
the challenges we faced.

00:13:22.450 --> 00:13:24.580
RIO LAVIGNE: Yep.

00:13:24.580 --> 00:13:27.910
Also, as you might have
noticed, your method of movement

00:13:27.910 --> 00:13:28.660
is imprecise.

00:13:28.660 --> 00:13:30.377
You don't know
where you're going.

00:13:30.377 --> 00:13:32.710
You're not really sure if
you're going straight forward.

00:13:32.710 --> 00:13:34.750
You don't know where exactly--

00:13:34.750 --> 00:13:36.460
how far things
are away from you.

00:13:36.460 --> 00:13:37.630
GWEN EDGAR: You might
think you're going forward,

00:13:37.630 --> 00:13:39.380
but your head is tilted
to the side a bit.

00:13:39.380 --> 00:13:41.802
So you're actually
going in this direction.

00:13:41.802 --> 00:13:43.510
RIO LAVIGNE: Fun
problems to think about.

00:13:43.510 --> 00:13:44.560
GWEN EDGAR: So one of the
first things with this

00:13:44.560 --> 00:13:45.700
was the platforms.

00:13:45.700 --> 00:13:47.950
Because players had a
lot of trouble locating

00:13:47.950 --> 00:13:51.940
exactly where the platform was,
we had to make a huge collider.

00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:54.910
So this entire green
box, if you hit--

00:13:54.910 --> 00:13:56.800
if you're gazing
anywhere inside of it,

00:13:56.800 --> 00:13:59.500
you'll go to the
platform on your jump.

00:13:59.500 --> 00:14:01.900
It was almost impossible
to hit this even when

00:14:01.900 --> 00:14:03.940
looking at the screen.

00:14:03.940 --> 00:14:05.403
RIO LAVIGNE: Yes.

00:14:05.403 --> 00:14:07.570
GWEN EDGAR: And in graphic
games, it's also lenient.

00:14:07.570 --> 00:14:09.400
Because you jump, and
you can fall onto it.

00:14:09.400 --> 00:14:12.370
You don't have to jump
exactly to where it is.

00:14:12.370 --> 00:14:13.330
So it follows.

00:14:13.330 --> 00:14:16.720
RIO LAVIGNE: And to
help with the imprecise,

00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.460
like, I think I'm
moving forward,

00:14:18.460 --> 00:14:21.130
but maybe I'm listing
to the left or right,

00:14:21.130 --> 00:14:23.350
we made it so that if you
were going fast enough

00:14:23.350 --> 00:14:26.240
and you're within 15
degrees of forward,

00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.720
you will go straight
forward on the z-axis.

00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:30.880
This made one of our levels,
which was essentially

00:14:30.880 --> 00:14:33.850
a very long hallway, much more--

00:14:33.850 --> 00:14:36.790
much less frustrating-- I
won't say easier, but less

00:14:36.790 --> 00:14:37.930
frustrating-- for players.

00:14:37.930 --> 00:14:40.597
Because then they could be like,
oh, I'm actually going forward.

00:14:43.950 --> 00:14:47.920
As mentioned, don't
use different heights.

00:14:47.920 --> 00:14:50.130
So right, like--

00:14:50.130 --> 00:14:52.620
GWEN EDGAR: Yes, so as players
were playing more and more,

00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:53.880
they were able to
tell-- they were

00:14:53.880 --> 00:14:56.255
able to learn more about the
sound and tell where it was.

00:14:56.255 --> 00:14:57.720
But when you're
starting the play,

00:14:57.720 --> 00:15:00.270
it's really difficult
to try to detect

00:15:00.270 --> 00:15:02.050
where anything is in this axis.

00:15:02.050 --> 00:15:04.140
And I think that, based
on all our play tests,

00:15:04.140 --> 00:15:06.630
many players were in a
kind of restful position

00:15:06.630 --> 00:15:09.210
when trying to follow
it, which meant

00:15:09.210 --> 00:15:12.090
that they couldn't see anything
above them, first of all.

00:15:12.090 --> 00:15:14.340
Because restful is apparently
tilted down a little bit

00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:18.240
and not looking
forward, and also that--

00:15:21.095 --> 00:15:22.470
I'm sorry, that
the-- we couldn't

00:15:22.470 --> 00:15:24.120
build levels upwards right now.

00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:25.902
So we were trying
to build them more

00:15:25.902 --> 00:15:27.360
straightforward so
the players were

00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:28.650
able to jump back and forth.

00:15:31.470 --> 00:15:32.340
RIO LAVIGNE: So--

00:15:32.340 --> 00:15:33.510
GWEN EDGAR: --playtests.

00:15:33.510 --> 00:15:34.650
RIO LAVIGNE: Yeah.

00:15:34.650 --> 00:15:38.550
So on Monday, I got 11
players to playtest the game.

00:15:38.550 --> 00:15:41.190
On Wednesday, I
got one more player

00:15:41.190 --> 00:15:46.410
to playtest based on some
of the feedback we got.

00:15:46.410 --> 00:15:49.290
And oh, by the way,
everyone said that it

00:15:49.290 --> 00:15:50.790
was an interesting experience.

00:15:50.790 --> 00:15:52.650
And some of them even
said that it was fun.

00:15:55.530 --> 00:15:58.827
A lot of them did say it
was fun, so that's good.

00:15:58.827 --> 00:16:00.660
GWEN EDGAR: Yeah, so
one of the first things

00:16:00.660 --> 00:16:03.450
that popped up a lot was
distance detection or radar.

00:16:03.450 --> 00:16:05.760
So you have no idea how
close you are to the wall.

00:16:05.760 --> 00:16:06.640
You experienced that.

00:16:06.640 --> 00:16:09.138
Or you don't know how close
or far something might be.

00:16:09.138 --> 00:16:10.680
We were thinking of
adding something.

00:16:10.680 --> 00:16:13.320
Like, perhaps you could have
something like a cane tapping,

00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:14.730
and you'll hear
different noises.

00:16:14.730 --> 00:16:16.380
Or oh, there's a gap here.

00:16:16.380 --> 00:16:18.450
And we could take away
barriers around edges

00:16:18.450 --> 00:16:20.850
with something like
this, or something

00:16:20.850 --> 00:16:22.020
like rear assist parking.

00:16:22.020 --> 00:16:24.603
So as you get close to walls,
it goes, beep, beep, beep, beep,

00:16:24.603 --> 00:16:26.490
beep, beep, beep, beep.

00:16:26.490 --> 00:16:28.100
RIO LAVIGNE: Yep.

00:16:28.100 --> 00:16:29.450
GWEN EDGAR: Frame of reference.

00:16:29.450 --> 00:16:30.325
RIO LAVIGNE: Oh yeah.

00:16:30.325 --> 00:16:32.750
So the first level went
through a couple of iterations.

00:16:32.750 --> 00:16:34.460
In our most recent
iteration, you

00:16:34.460 --> 00:16:36.350
have to find multiple
targets before you

00:16:36.350 --> 00:16:37.860
progress to the next level.

00:16:37.860 --> 00:16:39.710
And this is to give
the player a chance

00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:44.760
to really get more in the game,
understand, this is the target.

00:16:44.760 --> 00:16:46.560
This is the sound
the target makes.

00:16:46.560 --> 00:16:48.720
This is how I locate that sound.

00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:50.190
This is how I move forward.

00:16:50.190 --> 00:16:54.050
And moving backwards
is also an option.

00:16:54.050 --> 00:16:56.110
GWEN EDGAR: The target
after the one that you saw

00:16:56.110 --> 00:16:58.540
was directly behind.

00:16:58.540 --> 00:17:01.330
So the idea was trying to give
players that range of motion

00:17:01.330 --> 00:17:02.230
and the noises.

00:17:02.230 --> 00:17:03.370
GUEST SPEAKER: Was I
listening to more than one

00:17:03.370 --> 00:17:04.069
target at a time?

00:17:04.069 --> 00:17:04.280
GWEN EDGAR: No.

00:17:04.280 --> 00:17:04.947
RIO LAVIGNE: No.

00:17:04.947 --> 00:17:05.830
GUEST SPEAKER: OK.

00:17:05.830 --> 00:17:07.200
There were two voices.

00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:08.700
But that was just
one target, right?

00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:10.158
GWEN EDGAR: It was
one target, yes.

00:17:10.158 --> 00:17:13.410
The target would spawn after
the next one was destroyed,

00:17:13.410 --> 00:17:16.410
last one was destroyed, yep.

00:17:16.410 --> 00:17:20.310
RIO LAVIGNE: Yeah, so front or
behind versus left or right.

00:17:20.310 --> 00:17:23.339
Damage, death, and
other punishments--

00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:26.369
so we talked about players
spiraling into the void

00:17:26.369 --> 00:17:27.803
after they jump.

00:17:27.803 --> 00:17:29.220
What do you do
when a player dies?

00:17:29.220 --> 00:17:31.430
You put them at the beginning
of the level, right?

00:17:31.430 --> 00:17:31.710
GWEN EDGAR: Obviously.

00:17:31.710 --> 00:17:32.970
RIO LAVIGNE: They failed.

00:17:32.970 --> 00:17:35.040
Well, this is confusing.

00:17:35.040 --> 00:17:37.660
Because players don't
really know why they failed.

00:17:37.660 --> 00:17:38.160
They--

00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:39.300
GWEN EDGAR: Or
where they are now.

00:17:39.300 --> 00:17:40.050
RIO LAVIGNE: Yeah.

00:17:40.050 --> 00:17:41.490
Because now you've
just moved them

00:17:41.490 --> 00:17:43.260
without them moving themselves.

00:17:43.260 --> 00:17:46.950
So they've completely
lost where they are.

00:17:46.950 --> 00:17:51.190
So we decided to take
out damage, and dying,

00:17:51.190 --> 00:17:54.300
and all of that.

00:17:54.300 --> 00:17:55.920
We have a level with
obstacles in it.

00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:58.170
If you hit the
obstacle, you say ouch.

00:17:58.170 --> 00:17:59.880
You get pushed
back a little bit.

00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:01.830
And this doesn't
disorient players.

00:18:01.830 --> 00:18:03.690
If players are
worried about dying,

00:18:03.690 --> 00:18:06.450
they're much more afraid
to move and explore

00:18:06.450 --> 00:18:07.600
their world as well.

00:18:07.600 --> 00:18:09.150
So we took that out.

00:18:13.040 --> 00:18:15.200
GWEN EDGAR: Level complexity--

00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:16.933
as I mentioned,
during the playtest,

00:18:16.933 --> 00:18:19.100
players were saying that
as they were going through,

00:18:19.100 --> 00:18:20.270
they were getting
better at navigating.

00:18:20.270 --> 00:18:21.230
They were feeling
more confident.

00:18:21.230 --> 00:18:23.105
And they were getting
more used to the sounds

00:18:23.105 --> 00:18:24.050
they were hearing.

00:18:24.050 --> 00:18:26.600
So they're able to detect
different noises better

00:18:26.600 --> 00:18:27.798
and the patterns.

00:18:27.798 --> 00:18:29.840
So we were wondering how
far we can go with this.

00:18:29.840 --> 00:18:32.490
If we have people that
know how to play the game,

00:18:32.490 --> 00:18:34.610
how many levels of
complexity can we add?

00:18:34.610 --> 00:18:37.310
Can we have a
staircase of platforms?

00:18:37.310 --> 00:18:39.260
Can we make it so
you need to navigate

00:18:39.260 --> 00:18:41.540
almost kind of-- platforms
almost like a maze?

00:18:41.540 --> 00:18:43.010
What can we do with this?

00:18:43.010 --> 00:18:43.940
Can we have enemies?

00:18:43.940 --> 00:18:44.810
How many enemies?

00:18:44.810 --> 00:18:47.430
What kind of things can be used?

00:18:47.430 --> 00:18:49.250
So the idea is,
really, how complex

00:18:49.250 --> 00:18:50.600
can these end up being made?

00:18:50.600 --> 00:18:51.620
And this was not
something that we

00:18:51.620 --> 00:18:53.287
could follow in the
scope of this class,

00:18:53.287 --> 00:18:55.970
but that we would like-- be
very interested in pursuing.

00:18:55.970 --> 00:18:59.000
RIO LAVIGNE: And on average, it
took players about 10 minutes

00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:01.002
to get through all of
the levels that we had.

00:19:01.002 --> 00:19:02.210
GWEN EDGAR: The three levels.

00:19:02.210 --> 00:19:03.877
We only saw the first
one in this round.

00:19:03.877 --> 00:19:06.260
But there's a level with the
platform and a long hallway

00:19:06.260 --> 00:19:07.820
with swinging blades.

00:19:07.820 --> 00:19:09.620
RIO LAVIGNE: Yep.

00:19:09.620 --> 00:19:10.840
Yes.

00:19:10.840 --> 00:19:13.550
GWEN EDGAR: And last, level
guidelines-- these are-- we

00:19:13.550 --> 00:19:16.280
have three main level
guidelines that we want--

00:19:16.280 --> 00:19:17.792
that we take as
our contributions

00:19:17.792 --> 00:19:20.000
and we want to give to you
as main takeaways from one

00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:23.420
project, the first one
being to offer the player

00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:25.490
one audio target at a time.

00:19:25.490 --> 00:19:28.310
That can be trying to
navigate, looking for a source.

00:19:28.310 --> 00:19:30.710
That can be trying to
jump on the platform.

00:19:30.710 --> 00:19:33.410
That can be trying to
find the swinging blade.

00:19:33.410 --> 00:19:35.330
After you have
gotten past that, you

00:19:35.330 --> 00:19:37.758
can present a new target
as long as the old one has

00:19:37.758 --> 00:19:38.300
been removed.

00:19:41.360 --> 00:19:43.370
Second--

00:19:43.370 --> 00:19:46.310
RIO LAVIGNE: Always have a
linear and flat path to follow,

00:19:46.310 --> 00:19:47.960
at least especially
in the beginning.

00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:49.760
Because you can't
really detect when

00:19:49.760 --> 00:19:52.040
something is above or below
you, especially if you

00:19:52.040 --> 00:19:53.660
haven't heard the sound before.

00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:55.670
So especially with
these beginning levels,

00:19:55.670 --> 00:19:58.295
make sure things are just
in front of the player.

00:19:58.295 --> 00:20:00.920
GWEN EDGAR: So this doesn't mean
that you can only move forward

00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:01.370
in the level.

00:20:01.370 --> 00:20:03.703
But it means you need to have
a linear progression path.

00:20:03.703 --> 00:20:05.300
So you can-- you
can go backwards.

00:20:05.300 --> 00:20:06.170
You can move around.

00:20:06.170 --> 00:20:07.880
But if you've used
an element that

00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:12.920
needs to go away, or else
be specifically brought back

00:20:12.920 --> 00:20:14.450
for reuse--

00:20:14.450 --> 00:20:16.340
RIO LAVIGNE: Yep.

00:20:16.340 --> 00:20:19.670
GWEN EDGAR: And third, give
clear and immediate feedback.

00:20:19.670 --> 00:20:22.080
When you're looking at
something, you're able to see,

00:20:22.080 --> 00:20:25.250
oh, I missed the platform, or
oh, I got hit by something,

00:20:25.250 --> 00:20:28.230
or oh, I didn't make the jump,
or oh, I ran into a wall.

00:20:28.230 --> 00:20:31.040
But if you don't have that
immediate feedback here,

00:20:31.040 --> 00:20:32.943
people are just
like, what happened?

00:20:32.943 --> 00:20:34.610
It doesn't sound like
anything happened.

00:20:34.610 --> 00:20:37.012
Or oh, things sound
further away now.

00:20:37.012 --> 00:20:38.720
They don't have a good
orientation point.

00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:41.420
So footsteps when
you're actually walking,

00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:44.180
the nope when you
can't jump, the bump

00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:46.040
against the wall when
you hit it-- we're

00:20:46.040 --> 00:20:49.602
very clear in good ways
to give that feedback.

00:20:49.602 --> 00:20:50.310
RIO LAVIGNE: Yep.

00:20:50.310 --> 00:20:52.080
And OK, well, that's
our presentation.

00:20:52.080 --> 00:20:54.162
GWEN EDGAR: That's our
game, Going in Blind.

00:20:54.162 --> 00:20:54.870
RIO LAVIGNE: Yes.

00:20:54.870 --> 00:20:58.220
[APPLAUSE]