Paul Lemm, an avid gamer, has been partially sighted for the last 15 years and relies on his guide dog Murphy – but hasn’t let that get in the way of his hobby.
Paul’s part of Ebon Sky Studios, which has developed Sable, a custom engine which allows blind people to develop their own audio-based games, regardless of whether they have any coding experience.
The engine allows people to develop role-playing games that work entirely through sound, with no graphical input.
Players can choose the measurements of different maps and buildings in the game, along with adding ambient noise to give a better definition of what they want the game world to be like.
Paul is one of a team of developers working around the world on the project, alongside ones based in America and Canada who are also blind, and a sighted sound engineer from Australia.
Sable has been exhibited at a number of trade shows around the world, and Paul told Spirit FM he has been encouraged with the way the project has been received both in the sighted and blind communities.
The prototype has now been entered into the running for the Holman Prize, a competition which promotes achievements by members of the blind community.
Ebon Sky Studios are now looking for votes to help them into the finals of the competition, against more than 100 other competitors from around the world.
The three winners of the Holman Prize will get $25,000 to help them develop their ideas further.
