A Participatory Design Approach to Creating Echolocation-Enabled Virtual Environments
Ronny Andrade, Steven Baker, Jenny Waycott, Frank Vetere · 2022 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing · doi:10.1145/3516448
Summary
This participatory design study investigates how echolocation can be implemented in virtual environments to make them accessible to people with visual impairment. The researchers worked with three expert echolocators—people who have developed the ability to use sound and its echoes to navigate physical spaces—through a focus group session and two rapid prototyping and evaluation iterations conducted over six weeks in 2019. The study produced seven design recommendations from the expert echolocators, four of which were implemented and tested: (1) ambient sounds to support passive echolocation, (2) the ability to place auditory landmarks ("virtual coins"), (3) directional control via compass point mapping to controller buttons, and (4) pre-recorded clicking sounds from the expert echolocators themselves. The virtual environment was built using Unity with the SteamAudio plugin, which enabled real-time sound reflection and occlusion effects essential for simulating echolocation. Participants explored virtual layouts and then recreated them using modelling clay, demonstrating their ability to form mental maps of virtual spaces. The study explicitly followed participatory design principles to avoid creating what disability activist Liz Jackson calls a "disability dongle"—a well-intended but useless solution that fails to address real user needs.
Key findings
A significant discovery was the importance of passive echolocation—using ambient environmental sounds rather than active clicking—for detecting openings in virtual spaces. Prior research had focused primarily on active echolocation, but participants in this study found that the "whoosh" sound of ventilation fans through doorways helped them identify passages between rooms. This finding opens new research avenues for virtual environment accessibility. Pre-recorded clicking sounds from expert echolocators produced a more natural and pleasant experience compared to artificially synthesized clicks. Participants reported getting more information from the familiar sounds, with one noting "the attack is so quick and it's such a very short sound that the reflections are really noticeable." Compass point mapping to Xbox controller buttons (Y=North, A=South, B=East, X=West) proved highly effective for spatial orientation. Participants described forming an "absolute map" of virtual space using this system, preferring it over the grid-based navigation common in audiogames. This approach balanced freedom of movement with orientation support. All three participants successfully identified openings and obstacles in reconstruction tasks, demonstrating that the design recommendations improved mental map formation compared to previous implementations.
Relevance
As virtual and augmented reality technologies approach mainstream adoption, people with visual impairment have expressed fear of being "left in the dust." This research provides practical design guidance for creating VR/AR experiences that leverage the unique skills people with visual impairment develop through echolocation. The participatory design methodology demonstrated here is essential for accessibility work. Working with people with visual impairment—rather than blindfolded sighted individuals—produces insights grounded in lived experience. Blindfolding simulations can mislead designers by emphasizing the trauma of "becoming" blind rather than the developed skills of "being" blind. For game developers and VR designers, the specific recommendations are immediately actionable: include ambient sounds that provide passive echolocation cues, support user-placed auditory landmarks, provide directional control that aids mental mapping, and consider using real recorded sounds rather than synthesized alternatives. The finding that participants wanted control over ambient sound volume—not just a master volume—highlights the importance of granular audio controls for accessibility.
Tags: echolocation · virtual reality · participatory design · visual impairment · game accessibility · spatial awareness · auditory feedback