Effect of various spatial auditory cues on the perception of threat in a first-person shooter video game

Abstract

This study interviewed game audio professionals to establish the implementation requirements for an experiment to ascertain the effect of different spatial audio localisation systems on the perception of threat in a first-person shooter. In addition, a listening study was carried out involving 35 members of the public, and using three scenes made in Unreal Engine 4 with custom designed sound, authored in Wwise. This established that spatial audio does, indeed, have a noticeable effect on players' perception of threat. Each spatial audio system, however, had different effects on the perception of threat, stealth, realism and position estimation, on all three different visual scenes. Meanwhile, the absence of spatial audio can confuse people and contribute towards inaccurate enemy localisation. With this in mind, a tailored approach to the game design requirements for each project is recommended. Rather than a single, spatialised design for the entire game, each scene should have its own design solution.