Visual Audio Overlay

See what you can't hear.
An accessibility overlay that turns in-game sound into a real-time visual radar, built for gamers with single-sided deafness (SSD) or hearing loss.

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What it is

Visual Audio Overlay listens to your PC's audio and draws a sleek, transparent, Fortnite-style circular radar on top of your game. When a sound happens, an arc lights up in the direction it came from, so you can see footsteps, gunshots, reloads, and ability cues the instant they play.

It runs as a two-part app: a control panel you keep on a second monitor, and the radar overlay that floats over your game on your main screen.

Who it's for

• Players with single-sided deafness or hearing loss who lose directional audio.
• Anyone gaming with one earbud in, or in a quiet household, who still wants positional awareness.
• Competitive players who want footsteps and other key cues filtered out from background noise.

Features

• Directional radar overlay. Transparent, always-on-top, click-through. Arcs fade in and out in the direction of each sound.
• Game-specific presets. Built-in frequency band-pass filters (CS2, Valorant, Fortnite, and more) isolate footsteps and ignore useless low-end rumble.
• Smart audio boost. Amplifies quiet, distant sounds so faint cues still register.
• Stereo and surround. 7.1 / multi-channel headsets unlock 360 degree front/back detection; stereo headsets run in left/right mode automatically.
• Saveable presets. Store per-game sensitivities and filter setups and switch in one click.
• Full customization. Pick the radar's accent color and line thickness, with a live preview that matches exactly what shows up in game.
• Non-intrusive by design. It does not inject into game memory or modify any game files. It simply reads the standard Windows audio output (WASAPI loopback).

How it works

The app captures your system's audio output (the same signal going to your headphones) and analyzes the balance between channels to estimate the direction of each sound. That direction is drawn as an arc on the radar. Because it only reads audio you are already playing, there is no interaction with the game itself.

Note on detection range: front/back separation depends on your headset. A true 7.1 / 8-channel device enables full 360 degree detection. A stereo device can only resolve left vs. right.

Getting started (from source)

git clone https://github.com/mike-s-zaugg/VisualAudioOverlay.git
cd VisualAudioOverlay
pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

Requires Windows 10 (build 19041+) and Python 3.10+.

Quick start

1. Launch the app and pick your Monitor (where the radar appears).
2. Choose a Preset that matches your game, or tune Sensitivity, Gain, and the Frequency range yourself.
3. Set your radar Color and Thickness in Customization.
4. Hit Start in the Radar panel. The overlay appears on your selected monitor.

Build a standalone .exe

pip install pyinstaller
pyinstaller AudioRadar.spec

The build bundles the full UI, icons, and font, so the executable runs offline with no extra setup. Output lands in dist/.

If a one-file build shows a blank window (a known QtWebEngine quirk), use a one-directory build instead.

Roadmap

• Per-application capture. Pick a single program (your game) so other apps like Discord voice chat are ignored. Planned via the Windows WASAPI process loopback API.
• Editable presets saved to disk.
• Haptic output. Drive ButtKicker-style shakers from the strongest audio cue.

Project layout

File	Role
main.py	App entry. Hosts the control panel and overlay, exposes the JS/Python bridge.
audio_capture.py	Captures loopback audio, band-pass filters it, computes direction + intensity.
overlay.py	The transparent, click-through radar window.
dashboard_v2/	The control-panel UI (HTML/CSS/JS, icons, bundled font).

Support

Visual Audio Overlay is free. If it helps you, you can support development here:

Buy Me a Coffee

Disclaimer

This tool reads only standard Windows audio output and does not read or modify game memory or files. It is intended as an accessibility aid. Anti-cheat policies vary between games, so use it at your own discretion.

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Mike Zaugg. All rights reserved. The source is published for transparency and personal use of the released app only. You may not copy, modify, redistribute, sell, or reuse the code or the application without written permission. See the LICENSE for the full terms.