Sound Quest

Interactive Virtual Reality Game

Concept

Sound Quest is an interactive game using the users’ hearing to direct them in a virtual maze. It was developed for the Virtual Reality Park in Laval (FRANCE). The users are wearing a “modified” wireless headphone and can move freely in a 4x4 meters room. A custom tracking system calculates the position and orientation of the headphone; the users need to follow the spatialized sound, which indicate the way to win the game.

Custom tracking system

To compute the users’ position, I developed a 3D tracking system using Nintendo Wii remote controllers. A Wiimote and a special infrared pattern are attached to the headphone. The Wiimote provides the orientation of the user with respect to the room. Four other Wiimotes attached on the ceiling detect the infrared pattern. The main computer uses this position and orientation to synthesize the appropriate spatialized sound.

First experiments

We performed a proof of principle during a Christmas party with 30 Children. We data-logged the position of the players every 100ms to study the limitations of the system, and improve the interaction efficiency in the next version of the game.