Carta a la mar - 22/09/2026
An audio poem created in Unity
After a day’s development, I’ve just uploaded the project, feeling a mixture of satisfaction at having completed it and the realisation that I’ve still got a lot to learn, given the number of cuts I’ve had to make. At the moment, I’m not entirely sure whether I wrote the poem first or whether I had the idea to create the project in Unity.
On the PoeticThe text coincides with the end of summer 2026. In it, I decided to write a short piece in which to convey a series of feelings I had towards the end of the summer – a mixture of happiness, surprises and unresolved issues, but above all action and reaction, even if the execution isn’t perfect. I decided to link all that whirlwind of feelings to the experience of entering the sea bit by bit.
On the technical detailsThis project began with the idea of creating something interactive using Unity, using only audio and no graphics.
I had already tried this approach in previous projects, but unlike those, I wanted this one to include the element of free navigation through a 3D environment, as well as the ability to play it directly in the browser.
Shortly after starting development, I realised that this wasn’t going to be possible.
Developing the game for a browser severely limits sound management as handled by Unity. Consequently, there are clear limitations such as the number of active audio channels, the absence of occlusion, the inability to determine whether an object is in front of or behind the player, and the lack of a browser-compatible Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF).
To resolve this in the future and be able to continue researching in the field of audio games, in the short term I want to create more complex experiences, whilst accepting that they won’t be playable directly in the browser. And I’ll continue with simpler ones like this one in the browser.
In the medium term, I want to use a JavaScript library that I can integrate into Unity, or build the experience from scratch on the web without using a game engine.
As I write this, I’m considering the idea of triangulating three overlapping sounds to achieve that sense of direction; I’ll leave it as a web experiment.
On LanguageI’m facing a dilemma regarding language. Normally, I don’t really mind translating a text. But as this is a lyric, I’ve come up against a dilemma that has resulted in me not producing an English version.
I felt I wouldn’t be able to create something that would convey to me what I actually felt when I wrote it in my native language.
The fact that I had to implement more options for choosing one language or another also put me off, as it had set me back a week from my proposed deadline.
I’m considering asking for help with translations into other languages, whilst giving the necessary credit to those involved. I think it’s a better way to reach more people.
On what has gone well.- Integrating the poem into an interactive environment: being able to walk through an environment whilst listening to the poem completely transforms the experience.
- Letting the text settle for a few days: I am increasingly aware of the importance of letting the implementation of any idea settle. This is even more true in the creative sphere.
- Improving the handling of the different sounds, ensuring they are clearer and fit together better. I need further training in this area.
- Implementing multilingual support.
A finished piece in which, once again, I have had to combine a technical aspect with a more artistic one. The overall impression is positive, regardless of how many people end up accessing the work.
Being able to play around and experiment with the audio format without graphics opens the door to various possibilities, which I would like to explore further with some basic training in audio description and more technical training in sound file processing and mastering.