Diving in the Dark
SONA – Diving in the Dark is an audio-VR diving game for smartphones. Players experience the game in total darkness using headphones, head tracking, and their entire bodies. Players dive through the flooded Rhineland, following voices from the past and navigating using virtual sonar. In workshops, the game is currently being enriched with the stories and voices of the co-creation team and integrated into a live performance. We’ll be taking it on tour in 2026.
Audio-VR diving game for smartphones
Diving in the Dark works differently than conventional smartphone games: Sensory head-tracking headphones detect your line of sight and head movements. You orient yourself using 3D audio, allowing you to hear which direction a sound is coming from and how far away it is. You dive by tilting your head forward, this gives your virtual body a forward gliding impulse.
The game takes you to a fictional future after a massive flood that has engulfed the Rhineland. Above the flooded city of Cologne, you drift in total darkness and dive to bring lost voices from the past to the surface. Above you, a seagull – half animal, half AI – flutters, guiding you through the game and making contact with revived voices. Gradually, an archaeological adventure unfolds amidst climate change.
Co-Creation: Help develop the game!
The stories, characters, voices, and sounds of Diving in the Dark are developed collaboratively in worldbuilding workshops. Join our co-creation team and discover: What happened before the flood? Who are the lost voices we find underwater, and how can a new society emerge after the flood?
Together, we play worldbuilding role-games: events are placed on a timeline, developed further in scenes acted out together, and made tangible with tactile objects. We then record the characters’ voices in the sound studio.
Are you blind or visually impaired and interested in joining us? Get in touch! Tell us who you are and what interests you about SONA. We look forward to new voices and creative minds.
Experience & invite SONA – Diving in the Dark
While the game is being developed, we’re taking it on tour to showcase the current progress. Co-creators perform Diving in the Dark live, while the game is streamed in real time via speakers and video projection: The audience hears the players’ audio and sees the visual 3D simulation of their perspective on a screen. Following the performance, attendees can try the game for themselves.
Depending on capacity and context, we currently offer three formats that can be combined:
— Live-streaming performance: Co-creators of Diving in the Dark play live and stream the game for the audience.
— Public testing: Interested visitors can try out the game themselves, guided by co-creators.
— Workshop / Presentation / Talk: The SONA team provides insights into the development process and shares methods for developing audio VR and inclusive game design processes.
Already confirmed: International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) at the ligeti zentrum Hamburg (May 12, 2026), and Gamescom Cologne (August 26–30, 2026).
requests and cooperations: info@sona-vr.com