Vision Without Sight
A Multichannel Speaker Setup for Hodr Engine's Screen-Reader-First Spatial Audio Creation Tool
This presentation explores my experience as a registered blind software developer and sound designer, and as a Computer Science Scholarship PhD researcher at the University of Bristol. It introduces my work developing new features for Hodr Engine, a screen reader accessible spatial audio creation tool for those of any sight condition or technical ability to create spatial audio experiences for sound art and scientific experimentation.
Hodr Engine utilises a no code grid interface that allows users to position sound objects and apply features such as reverberation and interactions, powered by Signal Flow, generating interactive three dimensional spatial audio environments. The project emerged from my own difficulty in finding accessible tools that supported the creation of spatial audio using a screen reader.
The presentation also examines my research at the University of Bristol to extend Hodr from a binaural headphone based system to a multi speaker environment for loudspeaker reproduction. This expands its application to areas including immersive theatre and gallery installation. I will discuss my investigation of Vector Base Amplitude Panning, Distance Based Amplitude Panning and Wave Field Synthesis, and consider how spatial audio environments can be designed to support blind and sighted audiences, proving you don’t need sight to have vision.
Freya Shaw
Freya Shaw is the registered blind founder of Immersion Sound Studio, a company that creates commissioned music and binaural sound design for media such as video-games and exhibitions, while also developing Hodr Engine, a no code spatial audio creation tool backed by Innovate UK and her scholarship masters by research at the University of Huddersfield and current scholarship PhD at the University of Bristol. Hodr Engine also acts as a screen reader accessible layer for existing software, and is designed for developers of any sight condition or level of technical experience. Freya shares knowledge of accessible game development at events including SpillKonventet and DevCom, proving that you don’t need sight to have vision.