Surveyor: Facilitating Discovery Within Video Games for Blind and Low Vision Players

TL;DR

Surveyor is an in-game exploration assistance tool that enhances discovery by tracking where BLV players look and highlighting unexplored areas, and its implications for facilitating richer play experiences for BLV users within games are revealed.

Abstract

Video games are increasingly accessible to blind and low vision (BLV) players, yet many aspects remain inaccessible. One aspect is the joy players feel when they explore environments and make new discoveries, which is integral to many games. Sighted players experience discovery by surveying environments and identifying unexplored areas. Current accessibility tools, however, guide BLV players directly to items and places, robbing them of that experience. Thus, a crucial challenge is to develop navigation assistance tools that also foster exploration and discovery. To address this challenge, we propose the concept of exploration assistance in games and design Surveyor, an in-game exploration assistance tool that enhances discovery by tracking where BLV players look and highlighting unexplored areas. We designed Surveyor using insights from a formative study and compared Surveyor's effectiveness to approaches found in existing accessible games. Our findings reveal implications for facilitating richer play experiences for BLV users within games.

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: Surveyor's matrix-based exploration system in a room within our game. Text below each map shows unexplored patches and landmarks at that time point. Starting from the left side, the player aims to reach the unseen door on the right, initially obstructed by the large steel tubes in the center. A key card lies in front of the tubes. The player begins the level (A), surveys their line-of-sight with the right stick (B), and discovers the key card and two unexplored "patches" of cells behind the tubes. After collecting the key card (C), the player moves to the nearest patch (D), surveys again (E), and discovers the exit door.
• Figure 2: Maps of tutorial and main levels. Players navigate from start (blue map pin) to checkpoint (red map pin). The checkpoint room is initially locked (lock symbol). Players must collect two key cards (K) to unlock the door. All levels contain multiple decorative objects which are announced by the three study tools. Decorative objects: Pink boxes = physically obstructive objects; P = non-obstructive (point) objects; C = log entry consoles.
• Figure 3: Forced ranking results from post-study. Five participants ranked Surveyor as their favorite tool while four participants ranked the simple audio menu as their favorite. No participant rated the shockwave as their favorite, while six rated it as their least favorite.
• Figure 4: Distribution of scores indicating how restrictive participants perceived each tool to be. After using each tool in a level, participants were asked to rate its restrictiveness on a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 indicated that the tool felt "not at all restrictive" and 5 meant that it felt "extremely restrictive." Surveyor received the lowest median restrictiveness scores at 1, followed closely behind by the simple audio menu at 2. The shockwave received the highest median scores with 4.
• Figure 5: Paths of all nine participants at the start of Level 2. Players started in the room at the lower-right corner and had to collect the first key at the very top. The room at the far left is a "storage room" with a log entry console. Participants who used Surveyor tended to explore more of these rooms, with two participants finding the console and one reaching the door to the storage room before turning around. Only one participant who used the menu and none who used the shockwave entered the storage room. Path colors: Surveyor = green, simple audio menu = orange; shockwave = red.