For some, SxSW is about what’s the next new social media platform or tool that will be announced or launched . While that is extremely exciting, it’s also about how innovative our digital peers get when innovation becomes a necessity based on the circumstances as well as creativity.
I spent a fair amount of the day on Saturday, my first day on the ground at SxSW, inside the gaming hall, aka SxSW Screenburn. It’s an interactive, intensive exhibit hall focused on gaming, social gaming, immersive gaming and new gaming technologies.
While in the hall, I got a chance to spend some time with Robin Arnott, a sound producer/designer. He had never designed a video game in his life, yet he was there, demonstrating his new game Deep Sea. It’s an auditory immersive game, where players navigate deep dark murky waters battling sea creatures and oceanic beasts.
What I took as the key to this game is: sensory overload and hypersensitivity due to lack of vision. Players wear a latex-esque mask where their vision is completely impaired with an integrated breathing apparatus and headphones. The goal of the same is to navigate the waters, trying to fend off these creatures using only your hearing. General sense of direction is laser-focused based on auditory feedback given by the creatures, but the player has no sense of sight, just mere depth perception from innocuous pings and sounds from the onslaught of aqua-beasts.
I spoke to one of the players testing out the game after they finally disengaged, and asked what made the game so interesting. Why did they want to continue playing?
It was simple: It’s such a different way to think about structuring a game. Players are so used to controllers, instant on-screen feedback, and the visual aspects of a game. To take away such a critical component yet still make it immersive is mind-blowing. You get the sense you’re actually underwater because of the sounds are intensified due to the mask and headphones without sight. It was truly a scary and realistic experience.
So, what I learned from this game and my time spent around the gaming hall was: you don’t need the most awesome graphics – there were definitely some engaging yet simple game designs – just an awesome approach to gaming. Never have I considered looking at playing a game where one of my senses is impaired. Yet like this Deep Sea game, it’s truly fantastic because of the realism. So whether it’s building the next awesome game, the next social media campaign or the next immersive engaging integrated micro-site, let’s take a look at which of our senses we can exploit and leverage to make the user experience that much richer.