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for example the content of a room changes dur-
ing the course of a game, the acoustics does not.
With new, better methods to simulate reverbera-
tion and acoustic occlusion culling will add to
realism. Along the same line is the idea that the
sounds of the game could adapt to the acoustics
of the physical room where the player is located.
This can be used in pervasive games to blur the
borders between the virtual reality of the game
and the physical reality of the player.
need to? In the example of the leg being chopped
off, I'm assuming it's not a real leg attached to a
live human being. Yet, the horror works because
the context, latex leg, blood, screams and other
appropriate sawing and chopping sounds make us
“see” what we do not see. Again, this is a case of
sound making the image look better -- the scene
would lose its power without the sound (just as
Tati's films would be nothing without his absurd
sound use).
What would a future be like where, instead of
putting sound to image (to make it look better),
we put image to sound (to make it sound better)?
(I wish to ignore musical forms such as ballet,
musicals etc. here.)
Liljedahl:
I like the idea with silent rooms. It opens
up for new types of games where realism is not
self evident or the only aspect of the game media.
Liljedahl:
Perhaps we have done what can be
done given the sound technology available today.
Decades of film, TV and computer game produc-
tion have exploited many of the possibilities doable
with today's relatively static audio tools. New
levels of interactivity will put new demands on the
ability to create dynamic soundscapes. New DSP
technology will open up totally new possibilities to
create far more dynamic soundscapes than today.
Cunningham:
Bio-feedback will surely play a
big part. It sounds so cumbersome and intrusive
now but the technology will come along to let us
do it in more discreet and passive ways. In the
meantime the scope is there to research the hu-
man physiological responses to sounds of fear,
joy, sadness, and so on. Improving computer
models of emotion and AI engines will mean
that the game can, in turn, adapt to the changing
state of the player.
Grimshaw:
I was chatting with a colleague last
night who works in (visual) SFX and he was de-
scribing some visceral scene in one of the
Saw
movies (a leg being chopped off or something).
According to him: “Sound makes the image
look
better” (my italics).
Silent rooms are interesting. I would classify
Sec-
ond Life
as being something of a pseudo-game,
but I frequently find myself turning the ambient
noises and music down or off - as I find it easier
to get a handle on what my avatar is doing and the
interactions it is having with other characters and
objects. Perhaps this comes back to the concept
of “realism” in games. I think we can already
produce game sound that is 80% or 90% realistic,
especially using surround sound. I suppose what
we need to consider is: is realism needed and what
are the effects of it on game players?
I wonder if it's ever the case that “image can make
the sound
sound
better”? Many of the chapters
in the topic make the point that sound tends to
be subservient to image particularly so in the
production process and this is illustrated by my
colleague's comment.
Regarding the comment here that “what we see and
what we hear do not necessarily match”. Do they
If we do want realism, then the technology has
to get better. I don't want 5 or 7 speakers dotted
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