 Introduction Let me start by asking you a question. When you are driving your car, what is one of the key indicators that something is wrong, that it may need a tune-up, or worse still, that it is about to break down? There is a reason why hearing is our critical danger and warning sense. It is always on (even when we are asleep) and it works in a 360-degree sphere, so we can hear things we cannot see. Also, our brain, through what we hear, recognises patterns very effectively so we notice a change in sound that may indicate a problem. Yet even with how effective our sense of hearing is I have been surprised on many occasions by the number of training simulators, both military and industrial that overlook the importance of sound in their trainers. I have spoken to users of some of the most advanced (and expensive) military flight sims and been told over and over that the sound was poor quality, not very useful and not designed in a way that aids the user. Virtual Reality VR is rapidly proving to be an effective format for providing training for vehicle and machinery users. Being able to place a user INSIDE a virtual vehicle and have them operate it in a virtual world allows for realistic training and the virtual nature of the space ensures safety. The audio capabilities for VR surpass almost any other format of media, and we are still discovering just how effective VR audio is at providing useful feedback and enhancing the realism of VR environments. We can completely surround the user in audio that responds to their actions and can be used to indicate events in the virtual world. Moreover, well implemented VR audio can make a massive impact on the value of a trainer far in excess of its cost. Need to simulate a critical machinery failure? This can be done almost entirely with sound, it will indicate an issue the user cannot even see and does not require expensive graphic representation in many cases. So, lets have a look at a couple of scenarios for simulators and how well-designed audio could support them. Industrial For an industrial training simulator designed to train heavy machinery operation, the audio feedback provides information confirming nominal operation. Essentially if everything sounds good, then everything is likely working correctly. For equipment used for digging, audio feedback can inform the user of the types of materials being processed. A drill of any kind, from your cordless home drill right up to a machine rig will alter its sound as it operates. Strain or stress will alter the sound it makes and cutting through harder materials will sound different. In this way you can simulate not only, operational issues, but potentially reflect exactly what is being drilled based on the sound it makes. For training in critical failure scenarios audio is probably more important than other aspects of the sim. Engine or equipment issues, heavy vehicle performance and emergency situations are almost always indicated through the sounds you hear before any other indicator. A Hydro station turbine performs under constant stress and shutdown of this type of equipment is time consuming and costly. Capturing the sound of this equipment when working optimally allows immediate and easy reference at any time. Is your equipment working properly? Listen to how it currently sounds, then compare it to the reference recording for optimal operation. The “all around us” nature of sound should never be underestimated. Operating many large industrial machines has the constant inherent issue that the operator cannot see much of their environment or even most of the machine they are using. But if something goes wrong behind them they will often hear it, even if they do not see it. Many pieces of industrial equipment are huge and very noisy, as a consequence the operators must use hearing protection. But even with hearing protection the vibrations of potential issues can carry through to the operator. Many training simulators cannot provide haptic feedback (vibrations and movement) but again sound can provide this vibration information using low frequency sound output. Military When working on a VR infantry training simulator I was tasked with providing the sounds that matched the firearms being used by the troops using the simulator. So, I was told the priority was for the gun in the hand of the user to sound realistic. This was a good start to creating a useful trainer. However, when I asked about the sounds to use for the virtual AI opponents I was told just to use anything, the sound of an AK47 would be fine. I found this strange. My time in basic training many years ago reinforced to me that one of the most important steps in any engagement was to ascertain the biggest current threat, i.e., who was trying to kill you and how they were doing it. If you talk to any combat soldier you will find that many of them learn very quickly to recognise the sounds of various enemy weapons. This can mean the difference between life and death in the seconds you have to respond in a combat situation. What you hear is likely the first warning you have of a possible threat, spending time looking around to judge the situation may often get you killed, so your hearing at that point in time is critical. -Direction of enemy threat -Nature of threat: single weapon being fired or group or weapons -Type of weapon being fired: Is it automatic weapon fire, or a high calibre rifle? The difference between these two tells you the potential accuracy and penetration of the incoming fire and may well determine where you should seek cover. -Distance: After a while you learn that the quality of the sound can inform you of how far away the sound is coming from -Reflections: Echoes can provide even further information on where the threat is coming from as a sound will echo more when it travels through a built-up area such as building walls. Even within military vehicle simulators the audio can indicate systems failure, potential enemy threats, types of threat, direction of threat etc. Knowing that here is a potential imminent engine failure in your fighter plane because you hear a change in its sounds a second before the warning indicator lights up might just save your life. Vehicles Engine performance, road surface, weather conditions, status of your load (freight moving around, or loose ropes and straps) are all extremely important to simulate during training to ensure operators gain experience dealing with dangerous situations. All of these examples are also scenarios where audio can inform the user of exactly what the issue is and often the how bad the situation is. The main reason we train anyone in operating various vehicles is to ensure they can do so safely, for their own well being and for the safety of others. Providing situations to test a user’s response to potentially dangerous situations allows assessors to judge the operator’s suitability and equally important allows the user themselves to gain confidence in their ability to handle a range of scenarios and know that can respond in the best way. Summary Creating training simulators for military and industrial uses can be very expensive and it is important that these products are effective. Lives are quite literally dependant on people being trained properly. Good quality audio is important for the reasons stated in this article, but more importantly any amount spent on adding and improving audio feedback to a simulator will have a more significant impact on the effectiveness of the training than money spent on other aspects of the product. You could simulate all aspects of training safety with audio alone and know that the users understood exactly what the issue was and would never miss the problem. This is not the case with information to our other senses. As a developer you could add a huge range of situations to your training simulator utilising only audio functionality which is often faster to implement than other aspects of development. Utilising effective audio design for training is cost effective, impactful and most importantly improves the effectiveness of the all safety training across all industries.
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Getting work is an essential part of any person's career, whether you are an industry veteran working as a full time employee or a newcomer looking for freelance jobs. We all have to sell our skills to get the jobs we want to do.
Part of that process has always been contacting potential employers or clients and presenting yourself as a good prospect for the work they need done. The down side of this process for most people is the realisation that the threat of rejection looms over every application. It is a very real condition for most of us to find rejection uncomfortable. Years of experience in an industry does little to make a "no thanks" letter more fun to receive. The consequence of this is that many of us are reluctant to even try. So, here is how I overcame my fear of no. Many years back I needed to make more efficient use of my time as a freelancer. I needed to organise my schedule better. I set up a simple kind of game with myself. Each Monday I would write myself a To Do List on my tablet for the week. I would include everything I thought I needed to get done. But I had a trick. Each time I completed a task I would write next to it DONE. Now this may seem super obvious, but it was the emotional response I would receive by typing in those four letters...ALWAYS in capitals. It quickly became Pavlovian in nature. I would want to add more tasks to my week because I got huge satisfaction from completing things all for the simple reward of typing in done. I realised recently I could apply this to job and client applications. In this case I knew I needed something with more impact. Those dreaded rejections were a huge blow to ego and self image, so I decided to bribe myself. I changed the value of a NO from something potential hurtful and ego-bruising to something with actual value. One Dollar to be exact. I created a spreadsheet for my new networking push, I had done spreadsheets like this before, name, company, date contacted etc. But this time I added a new column; the NO column. If I had no reply within 2 weeks or received a direct rejection to a request I would place a cross in the no column for that contact. Each NO was worth a buck, but I had to collect them in batches of 50 to be able to redeem them. The Day I started this I sent out 50 contact requests. That was more requests in one morning than the previous 12 months combined. I was actually excited to send them out, frankly I was looking forward to getting back those NOs, if I got enough that was 50 bucks I could spend on a hobby interest. Everything we do is based on our own self worth and how we motivate ourselves can be critically important in our success. I am probably one of the worst people I know for dealing with things like rejection letters, and yet such a simple ploy, such a small deceit has flipped my brain into not caring about potential rejection letters and in fact seeking them out. This does not mean you approach unlikely connections or apply for things with anything less than your absolute best, but it takes a massive amount of the sting out of the tail of any NO you might be on the receiving end of. try it, and I sincerely hope it helps. It may not be what you think it is
I think one of the greatest issues with the word "success" is that the modern definition of it has been wildly distorted to a point where it is practically unobtainable. Modern media shows us success in the form of AAA Hollywood actors, or chart topping musicians, or billionaire tech company founders. In reality these people are aberrations. Anyone who has ever studied statistics can tell you that the first thing you do with a bunch of figures is, pretty much, ignore the very extreme examples at both ends. So out of a planet of 7 billion people a few hundred who are massively successful in their creative field are largely irrelevant to what normal people can achieve. And yet we set them as the bar we are supposed to reach. "Aim high" is a reasonable and useful thought process when you start a creative career. Ambition can be a really good thing if it motivates you to work hard and helps you focus on a goal. But aiming to achieve a level that is essentially impossible means you may never be happy with the things you do achieve. We can get trapped, forever looking to the top of the success ladder. I find myself often discounting achievements I should have celebrated because I was too busy looking to the next thing. It is really important to stop, look at the things we accomplish and acknowledge their significance. |
AuthorStephan Schütze has been recording sounds for over twenty years. This journal logs his thoughts and experiences Categories
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