At CES 2024, the business announced a new SDK and relationship with Logitech.
There are occasions when audio cues are absolutely necessary for success in games. Developers frequently create the sound environment for their experiences to not only be rich and immersive, but also to convey signals about coming opponents or danger. This is done in order to maximise the overall experience. This is something that players who have trouble hearing might not be able to take advantage of, and it is not fair to put them at a disadvantage because of their impairment. A product known as Audio Radar was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2024. This product has the capability to convert sound signals into visual clues, allowing gamers who have hearing loss to “see the sound,” as stated by the business AirDrop Gaming LLC.
Setting up is not overly complicated. In order to interpret the audio output of a game console and transform that information into lights, a box is plugged into the console. The screen is surrounded by a succession of RGB light bars, each of which displays a different colour according on the type of sound that is coming from the direction that it represents. In a nutshell, it indicates that if you are strolling around a Minecraft world, as I did at the company’s stand on the show floor, you will see that lights of varying colours will appear on the various bars.
Green lights indicate that there are no sounds in the region adjacent to the corresponding light, however red lights indicate that there are sounds from opponents in the area. Furthermore, an on-screen legend explains the meaning of the sounds, but it is possible that this explanation is only for the modified Minecraft scenario that is being displayed at CES.
While I was walking around the scene for a short while, I noticed that there were green lights floating over a corral of farm animals, and there were purple lights that were flying in tandem with a dragon that was flying above. I did found it a little perplexing, but I think that is probably more due to the fact that I know very little about Minecraft. Additionally, as someone who has hearing, I might not enjoy the additional information as much as someone who does not have hearing.
The software development kit (SDK) that the business introduced at the conference will allow developers to personalise the lights and visual feedback that are associated with items in their game. This will allow developers to have control over what their hard-of-hearing players see. While this is going on, Audio Radar is utilising its very unique software to identify stereo or surround sound waves, which it then converts into feedback in the form of colour and light.
There have been a number of large game firms that have shown interest in Audio Radar, despite the fact that the product may appear to be in its early phases. The Chief Executive Officer of AirDrop Gaming, Tim Murphy, provided me with the information that Logitech is “providing support as we further develop our product and design our go-to-market strategy.” In addition, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was seen to be present at the booth on the day that it opened.
This is the year that Audio Radar is beginning to ship on a bigger scale, and the business is also continuing to develop solutions for gamers who are deaf or hard of hearing, among other things. It is compatible with the Xbox, PlayStation, and personal computers.