Highlighting Collective Movements

Audio Game Center

2016–

Audio Game Center

Courtesy of Ginza Sony Park Project

​​​​Audio games are created from sound and played with sound, unlike video games, where visual information is essential. Audio games built with sound bring a new comprehension of perception and space, and at the same time, create a new experience of imagining and actively interacting with the world that expands from sound. Audio Game Center proposes and shares such experiences that emerge from sound in the form of games. This project was selected as a Jury Selection piece in the Entertainment Division of the 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival in 2018. It was also selected as one of the projects in the Project to Support Emerging Media Arts Creators program hosted by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2019. It explores the possibilities of experiences created by sound using various media and venues, such as creating game centers in real places, hosting a Prototyping Party (a hackathon to develop new games with various creators), carrying out online distribution and producing podcasts.

2017

Held the Invisible Sound Lab, an event to explore the blind spots of sound that we often overlook, at 3331 Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo (September). The audience experienced and exchanged conversations over prototypes that played with various sounds.

2018

Selected as a Jury Selection piece in the Entertainment Division of the 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival. Participated in the Tokyo Game Show 2018 (Sept. 20–23), held the exhibition Audio Game Center at Spiral in Tokyo (Sept. 29–30).

2019

Selected for the Project to Support Emerging Media Arts Creators. Participated in the Tokyo Game Show 2019 (Sept. 14–15). Held a hackathon, Audio Game Center Prototyping Party Vol. 1 at Nakayama Future Factory, an open studio at iii UTokyo (Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, the University of Tokyo), where teams worked together to create new audio games (Dec. 1).

2020

Started a podcast series called “Audio Game Radio.” The program was born with the assumption that an interactive sound experience is similar to an audio game, and delves into the possibilities of how to create and play with sounds, with guests who are involved in activities related to sound.

2021

Courtesy of Ginza Sony Park Project

Held the exhibition Audio Game Center + at Ginza Sony Park (Jun. 26–Jul. 18). Released three audio games using Sony’s 360° auto-stereoscopic technology: the storytelling horror game Where the Ghost Is, the racing game Super Audio Racing, and the rhythm action game Screaming Strike neo.

Director’s comment

​​My first encounter with the Audio Game Center was at Tokyo Game Show 2018, in the area showcasing independent creators. It was a sound-only game without a monitor, created by the Disability Driven Design Project, a group of blind game creators, designers, researchers, programmers and curators. The difference in spatial perception of sound is the difference in ability, and both visually impaired and able-bodied players are on the same playing field. They have made various prototypes to show that a rich game can be created using only sound, and have held workshops to expand the community's understanding and experience. The name Audio Game Center is a reflection of the project members' commitment to the joy of gaming. (TOMURA Asako)

DDD (Disability Driven Design) Project

DDD (Disability Driven Design) Project

Director: TANAKA Miyuki

​​This is a collaborative project consisting of members and collaborators working in a variety of specialized fields, including designers, researchers, programmers and curators. Teaming up with people with disabilities, the project aims to develop a new method of communication using human perception, while attempting to rethink the way we interact with the objects and environment around us that have been taken for granted.

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