The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2023-2024
JBL turned game visuals into spatial audio so blind players can game
Guide Play uses AI to convert in-game objects into sound, opening first-person shooters to visually impaired players.
Harman International (JBL Quantum)
the move
Ablegamers estimates that 50 million visually impaired people worldwide want to play games that have been inaccessible to them, and no leading first-person shooter catered to them at all. JBL needed to prove its gaming audio was superior, and the easy route would have been a film about sound waves.
BLKJ Havas Singapore and Harman instead built JBL Quantum Guide Play: free, open-source software that uses AI to turn in-game objects and structures into spatial sounds, so visually impaired players can navigate and fight in FPS games. JBL Quantum's head tracking and spatial audio emulate echolocation, and the tool works even without JBL headphones.
Development took nearly two years in collaboration with blind societies and Ablegamers, launching first for Counter-Strike 2 with over 1,000 players. The launch earned over 500 million global impressions, millions of gamers adopted the technology in the first month, and the software was released open-source so developers could integrate it into other games.
why it works
- The tool proves the product's core claim: sound carries the whole game.
- Open-source release turns potential competitors into adopters.
- Two years of co-design with the community built credibility.
- Inclusion gives the brand a purpose beyond headset specs.
what transfers
To prove your hardware's superiority, build something only that capability can do - an open tool for an excluded audience demonstrates the technology better than any demo film.
what came after
Guide Play was recognized at ADFEST 2025 in the Innovation in Technology category, and JBL released it open-source so brands and developers could adopt it, framing the tool as the first step toward accessibility in FPS gaming.
references
- JBL Quantum Guide Play
- BLKJ Havas Singapore and JBL Quantum elevate gaming experiences for the visually impaired community via 'Guide Play' tool
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