{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/voice-audio--family-21","type":"mechanic","id":"voice-audio--family-21","lang":"en","title":"Echolocation and world acoustics","summary":"An app emits sound and analyzes reflections. Signal delay and shape help estimate distance or properties of the environment.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/voice-audio--family-21/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/voice-audio--family-21.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/voice-audio--family-21.md","aliases":["Sound emission and echolocation"],"tags":["Voice and sound","Sound as information and material"],"sourceIds":["source-67d93faf2823c22c","source-e1ae9de4450dd6cd","source-6b71cdb735e912c0","source-2a4797d398583c78"],"sources":[{"id":"source-67d93faf2823c22c","title":"Stifled","url":"https://blog.playstation.com/?p=195448","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-e1ae9de4450dd6cd","title":"Lurking","url":"https://www.lurking-game.com/","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-6b71cdb735e912c0","title":"Perception","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/426310/Perception/?l=english","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-2a4797d398583c78","title":"phyphox","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj3v701HE0&t=185s","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Produce or direct sound to obtain information or an effect through propagation."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Active probing\n\n<a id=\"family-21-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Send a sound pulse and study the response. <a id=\"family-21-branch-1-variant-1\"></a>\n- Choose frequent weak or rare strong pulses. <a id=\"family-21-branch-1-variant-2\"></a>\n- Estimate spatial shape from reflections. <a id=\"family-21-branch-1-variant-3\"></a>\n- Detect an object responding only to a particular signal. <a id=\"family-21-branch-1-variant-4\"></a>\n\n### Propagation\n\n<a id=\"family-21-branch-2\"></a>\n\n- Open or close a passage to change source audibility. <a id=\"family-21-branch-2-variant-1\"></a>\n- Position reflectors or absorbers to direct a signal. <a id=\"family-21-branch-2-variant-2\"></a>\n- Bypass an acoustic shadow or find a transmission path. <a id=\"family-21-branch-2-variant-3\"></a>\n- Choose a position with the required direct sound and reflections. <a id=\"family-21-branch-2-variant-4\"></a>\n\n### Effects\n\n<a id=\"family-21-branch-3\"></a>\n\n- Activate a resonator with a suitable frequency. <a id=\"family-21-branch-3-variant-1\"></a>\n- Coordinate sources for amplification or designed cancellation. <a id=\"family-21-branch-3-variant-2\"></a>\n- Trigger a mechanism chain through sound transmission. <a id=\"family-21-branch-3-variant-3\"></a>\n- Change the environment and observe its altered response. <a id=\"family-21-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-21","title":"Voice and sound","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/voice-audio/#family-21","categoryIds":["material"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Sound emission and echolocation","description":"An app emits sound and analyzes reflections. Signal delay and shape help estimate distance or properties of the environment.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/sensor-phyphox-sonar-185.webp","width":1280,"height":720,"game":"phyphox","sourceUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj3v701HE0&t=185s","originalUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj3v701HE0","sourceFrameSeconds":185,"credit":"RWTH Aachen University / phyphox","rights":"© RWTH Aachen University / phyphox. Frame from the developers’ sonar demonstration. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"phyphox Sonar: reflected signal on a distance scale","alt":"phyphox Sonar: reflected signal on a distance scale","markers":[{"x":31,"y":47,"label":"The echo peak is mapped to distance in centimeters"}]},"tips":["Test echoes and latency on real hardware and retain measurement units."],"examples":[{"title":"phyphox","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj3v701HE0&t=185s"}]}},"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"}}