natm-tem3

Maneuvering in a Virtual Environment Using Sound Can a player maneuver through a video game using only sound?  ==Can a player use only sound to maneuver in a video game and still perform at a level comparable to maneuvering with video and sound? ==

Independent Variable:
Audio/Video Component

Dependent Variable:
Time Until Completion (sec)

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
External Noise/Distractions, game layout, Equipment, Sound Quality

== ==

Hypothesis
I hypothesize players will perform worse when using sound to maneuver, but the results will be close. Graph of Hypothesis media type="custom" key="12311130" width="87" height="87" align="left"

Experimental Design
<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">My experiment will be conducted in a quiet room or area, probably at school. I need twenty-five people (other than me) to be test subjects. They will play the game. Each player will conduct two trials, one with sound and one with sound and video. The data I collect will go directly onto a printed spreadsheet. The data will be transferred, later, to the computer. Once I have gained enough base knowledge and have a clear idea of how the game will be set up, I will begin to log my progress and the steps I took in designing the game. I will also make a walk through-style video of the game being played (record the sound and visual as the game is played.) Pictures of players and screen shots may also be taken.

<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Materials List

 * 1) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">MacBook
 * 2) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Completed Game
 * 3) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Player
 * 4) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Stopwatch
 * 5) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Spreadsheet
 * 6) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Headphones

<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Detailed Procedure

 * 1) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Set up the game.
 * 2) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Turn off the screen
 * 3) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Have the player put on headphones.
 * 4) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Start the stopwatch as they start playing.
 * 5) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Let the stopwatch run until the player completes the game.
 * 6) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Stop the stopwatch.
 * 7) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Record the time on the stopwatch on the data table.
 * 8) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Repeat steps 4-7 with the screen turned on.
 * 9) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Repeat steps 1-8 with 24 more people.

<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Background Research
<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">some say 4, vocalization, sound FX, ambient FX, Music || <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Full instructions on gamemaker (300+ pages) <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">how use code in combination with gamemaker || <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Music used to increase emotions like tension <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">sound that dims over distance unusual while sound just cutting out is common with some dimming common || <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Audio must have eight layers to seem proffesional, spanning from a constant, low buzz to the character’s breathing, as many variables as possible must be taken into effect ||  ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Three levels of basic audio-speech sound, music

<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">References

 * <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Hubierts, S.. //Captivating Sound//. 2010. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. <http://captivatingsound.com/phd-thesis-captivating-sound-the-role-of-audio-for-immersion-in-games/>. || <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Overmars, Mark, and Jacob Habgood, eds. //The Game Maker's Apprentice//. Technology In Action, Print. || <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Trammell, Aaron. "The Role of Sound in Video Games: Pong, Limbo and Interactivity." Blog. //Sounding Out!//. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://soundstudiesblog.com/2010/09/08/the-role-of-sound-in-video-games-pong-limbo-and-interactivity/>. || <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Kastbauer, Damian. "Noise is Good for You!." Web. 1 Feb. 2012. <http://www.waste.org/lostchocolatelab/IGDA/LCLPresentationSummary.pdf>. ||  ||   ||   ||

<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">http://gamemakerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/pacman-g-game-maker-8-logo.png <span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">http://www.teachengineering.org/collection/cub_/lessons/cub_images/cub_energy2_lesson05_activity1_clip1.gif

<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Data Table
<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">media type="custom" key="12296232"

<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Conclusion
This experiment was designed to test people’s ability of maneuvering through virtual environments using only sound. By testing the speed at which players completed an audio-only game and then test the same game with video and sound, an average speed for both sets of data could be found. The result showed a significant but not extraordinary difference in favor of people playing the game with video and sound. The difference was just over seventeen seconds. I tested twelve people playing the game with sound and also with sound and video.

<span style="background-color: #1d1919; color: #76eb73; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Discussion
My hypothesis was that players would perform worse when using sound to maneuver, but the results wouldl be close. My results support my hypothesis. The data showed the audio and video version of the game to be faster and easier. I also found that the speed of someone’s audio game when compared to other people, was nearly the same as the difference between audio and video and just audio.

The tests went smoothly, with minor problems if any. The game I programmed did odd things occasionally. This manifested mainly in a phenomena where the audio cues that helped the player navigate stopped working and played on a two second loop until player moved closer or further from the target space. I am uncertain why this happened, but changing it would fix the problem and be much better. I am also sure that the test results might have changed if, when the player had visual input they were unable to see when they were going off the map (this causes the player to move back to the start of a level and slowed down many audio-only players.)

At some point, I would like to do another study using a better programmed game that tests players ability to maneuver in a virtual reality without sound and if that ability has a correlation to measurable visual spacial skill levels. I would need to purchase or access a visual-spacial battery test with which I could test people. This study could open up interesting ideas, like whether people with visual impairments become visual-spacial in the absence of sight. If so can being visual-spacial be a learned skill?