Category: Game Parlor
I hope this post is allowed here. If not, please feel free to move it to it's appropriate place.
When I wrote this, I had just woken up from a dream that inspired this post, so my ideas may be a little off. It may sound a bit strange,but bare with me. I want to make a game to simulate mobility. It would consist only of sound. Basically, you're taking a walk through a town, on a given route, say, to the grocery store. You'd be able to hear the different audio queues that you would under normal circumstances, such as getting near a mailbox or a house, shorelining, hitting rocks, the cars on the street. Some sounds, like mailboxes and other landmarks, would remain in the same places, while the cars would all have different sounds and would stop and go as the game progressed. There would be different levels to the game. The first would be a simple walk to the store, with no turns or street crossings. The second might require you to listen to the traffic, to determine when to cross the street and may involve some turning. I'd also make room for mistakes, so you could see what happens if you crossed at the wrong time or did a diaginal crossing etc. So it would be doubly important to listen to the direction of the traffic in the more advanced levels. Then, you could set the weather. In the easy level, it would be a calm sunny day, but you could set it to windy so you'd have to pay attention to things more clearly, wintery so you could get used to how your cane sounds when it hits ice or random, so the computer could choose. Also, there would be a highway component, aside from the normal game, so you could practise when to go and when not to, in a safe environment like your home.
My goal is for this to be used as a fun and educational tool. I want the sounds and situations to be as authentic as possible. I know you won't be able to feel the road, unless some kind of device is hooked up to the computer, bthough that might be done one day. My hope is that this game will prepare students for the world outside in a place where they can feel comfortable and less pressured than they would in real life. Of course, this is no substitute for actual mobility lessons, but it can be an aid to them and can help improve audio feedback or echo location skills. The only thing is that my programming skills are completely lacking and I really need help getting this thing together. So what do you guys think and can anyone help me?
I think a game like this would be a good idea, but I don't know how easy or hard it would be to use for a totally blind person who doesn't use the mouse.
It would be keyboard controled. I've never used a mouse and still play audio games. However, joystick support is a great idea as well, so I might include that.
Well frankly this game would be more work then I would want to put in, so have fun learning your programming language of hcoice.
If I could program, I might just have to jump on this. However, if this is ever realized, I'll take acopy... or four. It depends on how many students I end up teaching. I won't be their O&M, but it would be nifty. Might I also suggest, having an option to play from the perspective of a guide dog user, too? That way, if a student is considering getting a dog, they can see the differences in travel. This would require the computer to make some choices for you, such as veering you out of the way of/stopping for given obstacles, etc. Hmmm. That might be more trouble than it's worth.
I forget the site, but some group has done something similar to simulate street crossings.
The thing with guide dog simulation would be the pull of the dog, the dog sitting down or going in front of you to stop you from running into something or going into the street. Part of that could work with one of those things that you plug into the computer, where you can feel it vibrate etc. Maybe it'll allow you to feel a pull as well. Donno.
That sounds pretty complicated.
I like the idea of a virtual mobility lesson. You'd need a bunch of different sounds. But, people could take a stereo recorder with them on a route, and share it with the community, giving descriptions along the way.
Bob