However, even before these releases, developers and content creators were testing the devices through “development kits.” These de facto early adopters, who are distinctly commercially-oriented, acted as a launching point for the dissertation to scrutinize how, why and in what ways digital technologies spread to the wider public. Starting in 2016, relatively inexpensive head-mounted displays (HMDs) were manufactured and distributed by leaders in the game and information technology industries. ![]() This dissertation examines early adopters of mass-marketed Virtual Reality (VR), as well as other immersive technologies, and the playful processes by which they incorporate the devices into their lives within New York City. ![]() As a ‘generalist’, the Indie Designer/Developer combines the role of researcher, designer, reflective practitioner, developer, publisher and entrepreneur. Here, one is an integrated agent who develops work through critical reflection from online reviews, relying heavily on the implementation of tacit knowing (Polanyi, 1967 Schön, 1984). The research was activated by a form of agency I define as an Indie Designer/Developer. The project was presented at several conferences and featured on television and the Internet. They gathered insightful user reviews and won multiple nominations and awards. They were released on iOS and Android platforms and over a period of two years were downloaded over 130,000 times. The games were created through iterative cycles of prototyping and public releases and stimulated and refined through the agency of voluntary user feedback. This practice-oriented research project investigates the potential of audio games through the design and development of the Audio Game Hub and Blind Cricket. Although there are approximately 114,000 video games currently in active circulation (MobyGames, 2020), just over 700 of these are accessible to the visually impaired (, n.d.-a). According to the World Health Organization (2019), an estimated 217 million people worldwide are visually impaired and 36 million are blind.
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