Does an increase in adaptive audio lead to an increase in perceptual realism in first-person games?

Abstract: When striving for realism in first-person games, the use of sampled audio has been frequent, and it is often argued that a higher level of auditory authenticity will lead to an increased realism.However, in this paper, it is argued that, for the purpose of realism, attention should instead be directed at making players themselves a more contributing factor to how sound is perceived; the more the audio of a game changes with, or adapts to, player input, the more realistic it should be perceived. This idea is tested in a first-person game where participants play two different levels where one level’s wind sound has audio parameters adapt to the camera’s yaw rotator value, while the other level’s wind sound does not adapt at all. The participants’ experience of each design approach is evaluated using a quantitative and qualitative analysis. Results suggests that an increase of adaptive audio can lead to an increase in perceived realism in first-person games. A difference could clearly be perceived between the approaches and there were indications of preference for the adaptive approach. First-person games, such as simulators, as well as VR games, may well benefit from this approach in that it could increase the perceived realism.