Surveyor: Facilitating Discovery Within Video Games for Blind and Low Vision Players

Surveyor: Facilitating Discovery Within Video Games for Blind and Low Vision Players 

Surveyor: Facilitating Discovery Within Video Games for Blind and Low Vision Players 

Vishnu Nair, Hanxiu ’Hazel’ Zhu, Peize Song, Jizhong Wang, Brian A. Smith 

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 experi-ence. Thus, a crucial challenge is to develop navigation assistance tools that also foster exploration and discovery. To address this chal-lenge, 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 high- lighting 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." 

Reference 

Nair, V., Zhu, H., Song, P., Wang, J., & Smith, B. A. (2024). Surveyor: Facilitating discovery within video games for blind and low vision players. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.10512 

Keywords 

Blind-Accessible Video Games, Exploration Within Virtual Environments, Blindness and Low Vision