Diegetic Sound

Sound that originates from within the world of a game, film, or virtual environment—sounds that characters within that world could theoretically hear. In gaming and VR, diegetic sounds include environmental audio (footsteps, ambient noise, machinery), character dialogue, and event sounds (explosions, doors opening). For accessibility, distinguishing diegetic from non-diegetic sound (interface sounds, background music) is important when designing sound visualizations or captions for deaf and hard of hearing users, as diegetic sounds often carry spatial and narrative information essential to gameplay.