Audio-Based Virtual Environment

An audio-based virtual environment is a computer-generated interactive space that uses sound — including 3D spatial audio, stereo effects, and environmental audio cues — as the primary channel for conveying information about the virtual world, enabling navigation, orientation, and interaction without reliance on visual display. These environments are designed primarily for users with visual disabilities, using spatialised sound to represent objects, characters, boundaries, and terrain types within a navigable space. Audio-based virtual environments have been used for education, cognitive skill development, gaming, and spatial orientation training for blind and low-vision users, with research showing they can effectively develop problem-solving, spatial cognition, and laterality skills.