PhET Energy Skate Park - Competitive Analysis
Existing non-visual wayfinding
Most wayfinding / navigation applications for non-visual users describes location relative to the user.
Examples: BlindSquare (Youtube video), and Sendero Seeing Eye GPS (Youtube video).
BlindSquare has a feature which lets a user discover surroundings by panning the phone around.
During navigation SeeingEye would use audio cues and narration to give updates and alerts (i.e. a description and a turn signal sound indicates which direction to turn).
Handisco smart white cane:
Video on PBS about Handisco.
Uses vibration and sound (like a Geiger counter) to convey proximity. Uses narration to give prompts and alerts.
SmartCane:
Uses vibration exclusively to convey proximity to objects as to not compete with auditory information from the environment.
Model Based Sonification
Chapter 16 in the Sonification Handbook has some interesting videos.
Example S16.3: Tangible Data Scanning - similar to using the skater and dragging it around to scan the scene
Example S16.4: Principal Curve Sonification of a noisy spiral data set - convey shape of a dataset (i.e. the track)
Example S16.6: Particle Trajectory Sonification for 1 particle - conveying motion of a particle (i.e. skater). Note the difference in the quality of sound with different masses
Chapter 17 in the Sonification Handbook
Using k-sonar to depict shape of objects (example S17.5 to S17.11)
Example S17.15: Smartsight square - conveying a square shape
Chapter 20 in the Sonification Handbook
Example S20.2: SWAN video VR demo - user navigating a physical space using sonar "pings" and earcons to confirm selections
K-Sonar
A commercial device which uses audio to convey direction and proximity from the user and objects.
Example: using a K-Sonar on a walk. (Volume warning). link seems to be broken
Audio games
Change Reaction: http://dracoent.com/Mac/ChangeReaction
The Blind Swordsman: http://www.applevis.com/sites/default/files/podcasts/AppleVisPodcast741.mp3
Skip to 8minute mark to hear an example of a fight. Spatial audio is used and arrow keys to turn the swordsman to "face" the enemy to attack or parry.
Audio Game Hub: a collection of mini games like slots and archery.
Uses a lot of spatial audio and timing for gameplay
Predictable location of items like menus etc.
Menu navigation uses spatial information