---
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
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
---
# Echolocation and world acoustics

id: voice-audio--family-21
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/voice-audio--family-21
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/voice-audio--family-21/

An app emits sound and analyzes reflections. Signal delay and shape help estimate distance or properties of the environment.

## At a glance

![phyphox Sonar: reflected signal on a distance scale](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/sensor-phyphox-sonar-185.webp)

[phyphox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj3v701HE0&t=185s) · © RWTH Aachen University / phyphox. Frame from the developers’ sonar demonstration. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

[Source recording](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj3v701HE0), 185 s

1. The echo peak is mapped to distance in centimeters

- Test echoes and latency on real hardware and retain measurement units.

- [phyphox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj3v701HE0&t=185s)

## How it works

Produce or direct sound to obtain information or an effect through propagation.

## Variants

### Active probing

<a id="family-21-branch-1"></a>

- Send a sound pulse and study the response. <a id="family-21-branch-1-variant-1"></a>
- Choose frequent weak or rare strong pulses. <a id="family-21-branch-1-variant-2"></a>
- Estimate spatial shape from reflections. <a id="family-21-branch-1-variant-3"></a>
- Detect an object responding only to a particular signal. <a id="family-21-branch-1-variant-4"></a>

### Propagation

<a id="family-21-branch-2"></a>

- Open or close a passage to change source audibility. <a id="family-21-branch-2-variant-1"></a>
- Position reflectors or absorbers to direct a signal. <a id="family-21-branch-2-variant-2"></a>
- Bypass an acoustic shadow or find a transmission path. <a id="family-21-branch-2-variant-3"></a>
- Choose a position with the required direct sound and reflections. <a id="family-21-branch-2-variant-4"></a>

### Effects

<a id="family-21-branch-3"></a>

- Activate a resonator with a suitable frequency. <a id="family-21-branch-3-variant-1"></a>
- Coordinate sources for amplification or designed cancellation. <a id="family-21-branch-3-variant-2"></a>
- Trigger a mechanism chain through sound transmission. <a id="family-21-branch-3-variant-3"></a>
- Change the environment and observe its altered response. <a id="family-21-branch-3-variant-4"></a>

## Context and limits

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.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.

- [Stifled](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=195448) (id: source-67d93faf2823c22c)
- [Lurking](https://www.lurking-game.com/) (id: source-e1ae9de4450dd6cd)
- [Perception](https://store.steampowered.com/app/426310/Perception/?l=english) (id: source-6b71cdb735e912c0)
- [phyphox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj3v701HE0&t=185s) (id: source-2a4797d398583c78)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors