When Audio IS the Experience As some of you might know, I've been working on the Austin GDC, helping to get content up as the Advisory Board sort through the hundreds of submissions to pick the best candidates. The Audio Board found a real gem that I wanted to highlight because it was added just last week; also, it revolves around a very interesting subject - increasing the accessibility of games.

The session, by Michelle Hinn and Richard van Tol, is When Audio IS the Experience: Games for the Visually Imparied. (See also my blog post about it for the Austin GDC website.)

I used to have an English teacher in high school who was legally blind. But ever majestic, she refused to carry a stick or keep a seeing-eye dog but instead navigated the campus by memory, sense of hearing, and a light touch on walls and banisters. She was tall, thin, and regal, with silver hair cut in a bob, looking always sleek and slightly rakish in oversized Jackie O sunglasses and soft neutral-colored suits. We submitted our papers to her by reading them out loud onto tape. You certainly notice overwrought turns of phrases when forced to read them out loud - I think it made me a better writer.

But it startled me that she knew so much about film, which she loved. And that she still went out, even when blind, to see new films that came out. I had always thought that films were primarily a visual delight. She taught me otherwise. She also attended all our high school drama efforts. I remember seeing her sitting alertly in her chair, leaning forward to catch all the words. Her fading sight didn't seem to dull her appetite for drama, nor impair her enjoyment of it. And in fact she had a memory like a steel trap, able to recall details of dialogue in the film, plots twists, emotional heights... she was remarkable.

That was a very long tangent to say simply that I'm glad Michelle and Richard are giving this talk; it should be very interesting; and to me, at least, a reminder that not everyone sees the world in the same way; and not everyone experiences art in the same way. Posted by jane at July 23, 2007 01:42 PM | TrackBack