Video Game Accessibility for the Hearing-impaired

People who are hearing impaired miss the background music, while the context is provided through music. Thesia visualizes music for a better gaming experience.

Hearing-impaired people noticed that some games were more difficult to play for them. After some research, we discovered this was due to missing audio, not just the cues but also the music. In order to create a product that could offer them the same experience, we needed to gather intel regarding what data was necessary to communicate the context or mood of the music. Based on the insights, we designed THESIA, a product communicating the basics of music: tone, frequency and volume. The product was tested in a self-created game environment. This way we could gather data specifically focused on the product. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed and visualised. The results showed that the product was helpful, but more research is needed to determine the best combination and visualisation of data.