You don't need sight to have vision

Hodr, developed by Immersion Sound Studio, is a desktop, no-code binaural audio creation tool, designed for those of any sight condition and technical experience level. Using the Hodr engine, users can create lifelike, interactive audio environments, from immersive soundscapes to sophisticated audio games.

What is Hodr Engine?

The Hodr Engine user interface showing a grid containing some objects that have been placed there by the user. Along the second row are two houses and below is a car. Further along the row the houses is a tree. All of these are written as words and you can see a rotation marker in the grid spaces. At the top right of the grid it says the user is 'Carrying tree'. This information is read out by a screen reader.

Using a top-down grid compatible with screen readers, developers build environments by placing sound objects into cells. Each cell represents a point in space, so the placement of a sound determines where it is heard from in relation to the listener. Sounds can be chosen from the engine’s built in library of music and sound effects, or imported by the user. Interactions and audio effects can then be added to individual sounds and the wider environment, allowing users to sculpt layered experiences.

When the project is run, the grid is rendered as a first-person binaural audio experience for headphones. Players navigate through the space using keyboard controls or a game controller, with support for real-time head tracking via webcam or head tracker hardware devices.

Developers can export Hodr experiences as standalone applications to share with others. A MacOS beta release is coming soon, with a Windows release currently in development.

Press play to hear more about Hodr Engine, with sound design created in Hodr Engine, voiceover by Aspen Thomas, and music by John Bailey from the built-in Hodr Engine music and sound effects library.

Testimonials

"It’s so exciting to see more innovative solutions created in this support of access needs, that technology could do so much to support so many in revolutionary ways, opening up entire new markets to those that are being underserved by what’s available on the market right now. There’s still so much to get out of games beyond those that are tied to visual aspects."

Alina Cameron (She/Her)
Innovation Lead - Creative Catalyst Innovate UK
"Thank you so much for creating this. It's not a novelty or gimmick, it fills a viable niche which will bring value to people. I have always wanted to be able to make games, but find the inaccessibility in current game dev tools and culture to be overwhelming and frustrating. This gives me hope that one day I might be able to do what I've always wanted."

Herbert (He/Him)
Hodr Engine Demo Tester
“I have been following the development of the Hodr engine from its initial conception to its current release state. It provides a simple and effective mechanism for producing high-quality audio-visual games. As such this can only be a major step forward in accessibility for games enthusiasts with visual impairment, enabling them to both generate and play games based on flexible and easily configurable soundscapes.”

Adrian R. Jackson (He/Him)
Lecturer at the University of Huddersfield’s school of Computing and Engineering
“I was extremely impressed by Hodr Engine’s vision to enable visually impaired game developers to participate in the creation of games for other visually impaired players, alongside sighted players. As a Patent Attorney specialising in software (and a former adviser to King, the makers of Candy Crush), I could see that there are unique innovations in the engine.”

Virginia Driver (She/Her)
European Patent Attorney
“The Hodr Engine is an innovative and exciting project that brings the worlds of both gaming and game development to visually impaired and blind audiences. Following the project as it develops I’ve been struck by not only it’s importance as a product, but also the importance of the project in raising awareness of accessibility issues so that software development in general might become more inclusive, as it is in the Hodr Engine.”

Alex Harker (He/Him)
Senior Lecturer in Music & Music Technology

Testimonials

"It’s so exciting to see more innovative solutions created in this support of access needs, that technology could do so much to support so many in revolutionary ways, opening up entire new markets to those that are being underserved by what’s available on the market right now. There’s still so much to get out of games beyond those that are tied to visual aspects."

Alina Cameron (She/Her)
Innovation Lead - Creative Catalyst Innovate UK

"Thank you so much for creating this. It's not a novelty or gimmick, it fills a viable niche which will bring value to people. I have always wanted to be able to make games, but find the inaccessibility in current game dev tools and culture to be overwhelming and frustrating. This gives me hope that one day I might be able to do what I've always wanted."

Herbert (He/Him)
Hodr Engine Demo Tester

“I have been following the development of the Hodr engine from its initial conception to its current release state. It provides a simple and effective mechanism for producing high-quality audio-visual games. As such this can only be a major step forward in accessibility for games enthusiasts with visual impairment, enabling them to both generate and play games based on flexible and easily configurable soundscapes.”

Adrian R. Jackson (He/Him)
Lecturer at the University of Huddersfield’s school of Computing and Engineering

“I was extremely impressed by Hodr Engine’s vision to enable visually impaired game developers to participate in the creation of games for other visually impaired players, alongside sighted players. As a Patent Attorney specialising in software (and a former adviser to King, the makers of Candy Crush), I could see that there are unique innovations in the engine.”

Virginia Driver (She/Her)
European Patent Attorney

“The Hodr Engine is an innovative and exciting project that brings the worlds of both gaming and game development to visually impaired and blind audiences. Following the project as it develops I’ve been struck by not only it’s importance as a product, but also the importance of the project in raising awareness of accessibility issues so that software development in general might become more inclusive, as it is in the Hodr Engine.”

Alex Harker (He/Him)
Senior Lecturer in Music & Music Technology