Video games are increasingly accessible to blind and low vision (BLV) players, yet many aspects remain inaccessible. One aspect is the joy players feel when they explore environments and make new discoveries, which is integral to many games. Sighted players experience discovery by surveying environments and identifying unexplored areas. Current accessibility tools, however, guide BLV players directly to items and places, robbing them of that experience. Thus, a crucial challenge is to develop navigation assistance tools that also foster exploration and discovery. To address this challenge, we propose the concept of exploration assistance in games and design Surveyor, an in-game exploration assistance tool that enhances discovery by tracking where BLV players look and highlighting unexplored areas. We designed Surveyor using insights from a formative study and compared Surveyor’s effectiveness to approaches found in existing accessible games. Our findings reveal implications for facilitating richer play experiences for BLV users within games.
ビデオゲームでの探索と発見を促進するナビゲーション支援ツールSurveyorの開発
2人の視覚障害のあるゲームプレイヤーにインタビューしデザイン目標を調査
Design Goal 1: Discovering items while physically walking through the world.
Design Goal 2: Keeping tabs on explored and unexplored regions within the world.
Design Goal 3: Using audio beacons to quickly navigate to specificlocations.
Design Goal 4: Providing multiple approaches for understanding and navigating through the environment
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Abstract
Video games are increasingly accessible to blind and low vision (BLV) players, yet many aspects remain inaccessible. One aspect is the joy players feel when they explore environments and make new discoveries, which is integral to many games. Sighted players experience discovery by surveying environments and identifying unexplored areas. Current accessibility tools, however, guide BLV players directly to items and places, robbing them of that experience. Thus, a crucial challenge is to develop navigation assistance tools that also foster exploration and discovery. To address this challenge, we propose the concept of exploration assistance in games and design Surveyor, an in-game exploration assistance tool that enhances discovery by tracking where BLV players look and highlighting unexplored areas. We designed Surveyor using insights from a formative study and compared Surveyor’s effectiveness to approaches found in existing accessible games. Our findings reveal implications for facilitating richer play experiences for BLV users within games.
ビデオゲームでの探索と発見を促進するナビゲーション支援ツールSurveyorの開発
2人の視覚障害のあるゲームプレイヤーにインタビューしデザイン目標を調査
Surveyorの開発
9人の視覚障害者を対象としたユーザスタディで既存手法と比較