{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/voice-audio--family-16","type":"mechanic","id":"voice-audio--family-16","lang":"en","title":"Selective attention and stream separation","summary":"The player picks out a relevant stream among competing sounds, such as a threat, speech or task cue, to choose the next action.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/voice-audio--family-16/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/voice-audio--family-16.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/voice-audio--family-16.md","aliases":["Selective auditory attention"],"tags":["Voice and sound","Hearing as perception"],"sourceIds":["source-52301c3226d81f2b"],"sources":[{"id":"source-52301c3226d81f2b","title":"Blind Drive","url":"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/blind-drive/id964294239?uo=4","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Select the important sound stream among competing sources."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Focus\n\n<a id=\"family-16-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Follow one voice among several speakers. <a id=\"family-16-branch-1-variant-1\"></a>\n- Extract a target sound from background noise. <a id=\"family-16-branch-1-variant-2\"></a>\n- Follow one instrument within music. <a id=\"family-16-branch-1-variant-3\"></a>\n- Hear a rare event in a long repeating stream. <a id=\"family-16-branch-1-variant-4\"></a>\n\n### Attention switching\n\n<a id=\"family-16-branch-2\"></a>\n\n- Switch channels, rooms or radio frequencies. <a id=\"family-16-branch-2-variant-1\"></a>\n- Listen to reconnaissance while responding to nearby threats. <a id=\"family-16-branch-2-variant-2\"></a>\n- Choose whose report to process first. <a id=\"family-16-branch-2-variant-3\"></a>\n- Notice background changes while doing another task. <a id=\"family-16-branch-2-variant-4\"></a>\n\n### Comparing streams\n\n<a id=\"family-16-branch-3\"></a>\n\n- Compare two simultaneous sequences. <a id=\"family-16-branch-3-variant-1\"></a>\n- Find inconsistency between speech and surrounding events. <a id=\"family-16-branch-3-variant-2\"></a>\n- Identify a source masking a useful signal. <a id=\"family-16-branch-3-variant-3\"></a>\n- Divide listening to multiple streams among participants. <a id=\"family-16-branch-3-variant-4\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A working design-space map: 27 families, 81 branches and 324 variants. Voice control, audio-based play and communication can combine or exist separately. Released-game examples support particular techniques; supplementary combinations are design proposals."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"voice-audio","id":"family-16","title":"Voice and sound","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/voice-audio/#family-16","categoryIds":["hearing"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Selective auditory attention","description":"The player picks out a relevant stream among competing sounds, such as a threat, speech or task cue, to choose the next action.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/sensor-blind-drive-3.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"Blind Drive","sourceUrl":"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/blind-drive/id964294239?uo=4","originalUrl":"https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource114/v4/49/64/a2/4964a27a-e780-a9da-8191-19c8a4ba92f9/9636f08b-efd0-4ea7-b5e6-2b0cbb80d34c_3.jpg/1440x1080bb.jpg","credit":"Giori Politi","rights":"© Giori Politi. Developer-distributed App Store screenshot. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"Blind Drive: a limited display, with key threats communicated through sound","alt":"Blind Drive: a limited display, with key threats communicated through sound","markers":[{"x":49,"y":58,"label":"The road situation must be reconstructed through sound"}]},"tips":["Keep critical cues intelligible and let stream levels be adjusted."],"examples":[{"title":"Blind Drive","url":"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/blind-drive/id964294239?uo=4"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/voice-audio"}}