Weinel, Jonathan ORCID: 0000-0001-5347-3897 and Cunningham, Stuart (2017) Simulating auditory hallucinations in a video game: three prototype mechanisms. In: AM '17: Proceedings of the 12th International Audio Mostly Conference on Augmented and Participatory Sound and Music Experiences. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), New York, pp. 1-7. ISBN 978-1-4503-5373-1 (doi:https://doi.org/10.1145/3123514.3123532)

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Abstract

In previous work the authors have proposed the concept of 'ASC Simulations': including audio-visual installations and experiences, as well as interactive video game systems, which simulate altered states of consciousness (ASCs) such as dreams and hallucinations. Building on the discussion of the authors' previous paper, where a large-scale qualitative study explored the changes to auditory perception that users of various intoxicating substances report, here the authors present three prototype audio mechanisms for simulating hallucinations in a video game. These were designed in the Unity video game engine as an early proof-of-concept. The first mechanism simulates 'selective auditory attention' to different sound sources, by attenuating the amplitude of unattended sources. The second simulates 'enhanced sounds', by adjusting perceived brightness through filtering. The third simulates 'spatial disruptions' to perception, by dislocating sound sources from their virtual acoustic origin in 3D-space, causing them to move in oscillations around a central location. In terms of programming structure, these mechanisms are designed using scripts that are attached to the collection of assets that make up the player character, and in future developments of this type of work we foresee a more advanced, standardised interface that models the senses, emotions and state of consciousness of player avatars.

Item Type:	Conference Proceedings
Title of Proceedings:	AM '17: Proceedings of the 12th International Audio Mostly Conference on Augmented and Participatory Sound and Music Experiences
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sound design, game audio, altered states of consciousness, auditory hallucinations
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science > School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences (CMS) Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences > Sound-Image Research Group Faculty of Engineering & Science
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	04 Mar 2022 13:07
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/34073

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