Virtual Worlds Open Up to Blind From: BBC News - 09/18/2007 By: Geoff Adams-Spink Students participating in Extreme Blue in Ireland, hosted by IBM, are conducting research that could lead to online virtual worlds accessible to blind people. Some estimates predict that 80 percent of active Internet users will participate in virtual worlds in four years, and IBM says they want to ensure that blind people are not excluded. The student researchers have developed an audio equivalent of the virtual world that uses 3D sound to create a sense of space. For the project, known as Accessibility In Virtual Worlds, the researchers used the online environments in Active Worlds because it provided greater flexibility than Second Life, which was used to make the world more hospitable to the blind. "When the user comes into the world, the items are described as well as their positions," says Colm O'Brien, one of the four researchers who worked on the project. "There is also sound attached - for example, if there's a tree nearby you will hear a rustling of leaves." The project also focused on developing tools that use text to speech software to read any text conversations that users have in the virtual world. Avatars in the virtual world can have a "sonar" attached to them so the user gets an audible cue that another user is approaching. Read the entire article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6993739.stm Links: Extreme Blue http://www-913.ibm.com/employment/us/extremeblue/ Home of the 3D Chat, Virtual Reality Building Platform http://www.activeworlds.com/ IBM Brings Virtual Worlds To The Blind http://metaversed.com/ IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center http://www-03.ibm.com/able/index.html Extreme Blue Programme kicked off June 11th http://www.ibm.com/news/ie/en/2007/07/ie_en_news_20070713.html Avatars For The Blind + 12 Hip Trends for the Blind http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/blind-avatars/