AstroSonic: an Educational Audio Gamification Approach

Reference:

Rovithis, E., & Floros, A. (2018). AstroSonic: an Educational Audio Gamification Approach. In Proceedings of the 1st Digital Culture & AudioVisual Challenges Conference on Interdisciplinary Creativity in Arts and Technology (DCAC). Ionian University, Corfu.

Abstract:

This paper introduces the work-in-progress AstroSonic, an educational audio-only game on the subject of Astronomy that aims to investigate the efficiency of applying game mechanics on non-speech audio content to convey non-musical, scientific curricula. First, the authors establish the theoretical framework by analyzing the positive impact of audio interaction in the context of educational and game environments, discussing the directions, in which educational audio games have been developed, and describing the ways, in which sound has been implemented for the sonification of astronomical data. Then, the first two levels of the game are presented in terms of concept, sound, and mechanics design, as well as how these reflect on the targeted curriculum by guiding players to fly their spaceship into low earth orbit and collect hazardous space debris.