Apple Swipe: A Mobile Game Apps for Visually Impaired Users Using Binaural Sounds

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a mobile game application for a visually impaired users using bidirectional sounds. This basic game is based loosely on the Fruit Ninja game where users need to slash the fruits to score by using the swipe gesture on the mobile phone's touch screen. The significance of this development is based on the simple interface to minimize latency due to heavy graphics computation and to utilize the the audio cues so that it will be suitable to be played by users with visual impairments. System Development Life Cycle which is SDLC have been implemented based on the main five phases. Standard System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) was implemented, including the analysis, design, development, testing and evaluation phases to ensure that the game suits the requirement of the targeted users. The project was conducted in three phases - Preliminary Test, Pilot Test and Final Test. 90% among the users of mixed ability were able to play this game and interacted through gestures such as touching and swiping screen of the mobile device. 75% of the users demonstrated that they could play game without depending on visual cues, i.e. only depending on bidirectional sounds (audio cues). It is hoped that this project can be a reference point for the development of mobile apps games for visually impaired users.