The Sound of Reality

Spatial acoustics constitute a major part of our experience of the world. The ability to make sense of our environment depends on spatial awareness and hearing plays a major role in this process. Yet in videogames, the acoustic information available to us is reduced. This cripples our hearing, leaving spatial awareness dependant on vision alone. This thesis examines the problems surrounding the simulation of spatial acoustics in videogames. The purpose of the thesis is to provide Starbreeze, a Swedish game developing studio, with guidelines of how to simulate spatial acoustics in order to create even more immersive gaming experiences. The primary question that this thesis tries to answer is how the gaming experience is affected by the use of simulated spatial acoustics. To answer this question, eight people were interviewed about their experience playing a set of videogames. The games used were: “Call of duty: Modern Warfare 2”, “Battlefield: Bad Company 2”, “Halo 3” and two games created especially for the investigation. The games were all different in terms of the complexity of the simulated spatial acoustics. The results show that games that use simulated spatial acoustics are perceived as more realistic and more immersive than games with less simulated spatial acoustics. The player’s ability to localize sound sources is however not affected. Så låter verkligheten Simulerad spatial akustik i moderna spelvärldar