Virtual Environment Interaction Through 3D Audio by Blind Children

Interactive software is actively used for learning, cognition, and entertainment purposes. Educational entertainment software is not very popular among blind children because most computer games and electronic toys have interfaces that are only accessible through visual cues. This work applies the concept of interactive hyperstories to blind children. Hyperstories are implemented in a 3D acoustic virtual world. In past studies we have conceptualized a model to design hyperstories. This study illustrates the feasibility of the model. It also provides an introduction to researchers to the field of entertainment software for blind children. As a result, we have designed and field tested AudioDoom, a virtual environment interacted through 3D Audio by blind children. AudioDoom is also a software that enables testing nontrivial interfaces and cognitive tasks with blind children. We explored the construction of cognitive spatial structures in the minds of blind children through audio-based entertainment and spatial sound navigable experiences. Children playing AudioDoom were exposed to first person experiences by exploring highly interactive virtual worlds through the use of 3D aural representations of the space. This experience was structured in several cognitive tasks where they had to build concrete models of their spatial representations constructed through the interaction with AudioDoom by using Legotrade mark blocks. We analyze our preliminary results after testing AudioDoom with Chilean children from a school for blind children. We discuss issues such as interactivity in software without visual cues, the representation of spatial sound navigable experiences, and entertainment software such as computer games for blind children. We also evaluate the feasibility to construct virtual environments through the design of dynamic learning materials with audio cues.