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Audio films for visually impaired audiences

Published: 3 December 2014 at 09:15

Mariana Lopez - Audio Films test

CoDE's Dr Mariana Lopez is conducting research on an alternative to audio description for visually impaired film and television audiences, called audio film.

An audio film is a format of sonic art that eliminates the need for visual elements and a describer, by providing information through sound, sound processing and spatialisation. Sound effects are used both to represent actions and as soundmarks to help the listeners identify the different spaces in the narrative. Artificial reverberation is employed to provide each space with a characteristic sound and surround sound is used to suggest the layout of the spaces as well as indicate the movement of the characters.

Mariana has recently conducted a series of listening tests with the collaboration of visually impaired volunteers in order to test the effectiveness of the new format.