Tuesday 29 August 2017
‘IMMERSIVE’ sound for films, game and music could soon be possible in the home using smartphones, laptops and tablets.
'Media Device
Orchestration' is being developed at the University of Surrey in collaboration with
acoustic engineers at the University of Salford, Southampton, and BBC Research
& Development.
The home audio concept
which enables people to enjoy immersive experiences by using all available
devices in a typical living room was presented at the Audio Mostly conference
in London.
Researchers have
demonstrated that a 3D or 'spatial audio' experience can be achieved by
isolating different 'objects' within audio content (such as a particular
voice), and connecting them to separate speakers available around the room.
Multi-layered sound
They say the concept could
enable consumers to enjoy films, games, programmes and music in a “far more
immersive, multi-layered and exciting way”.
While it is possible to
create 3D listening experiences using current spatial audio
technology, this requires a complex set-up involving a multitude of speakers
located at exact points in relation to the listener. The technology cannot
easily be replicated in a domestic situation and is generally limited to
specialist environments such as cinemas and theme park experiences.
The
MDO research is part of the £5.4m five-year S3A project, funded by EPSRC
(Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council), which is aimed at
delivering a step-change in the quality of audio consumed by the general
public, and allow audio to starts to catch up with advances in visual
technology.
Virtual Reality for video
games, in particular, is creating demand for a sense of sound which is all
around the user.
Award-winning film
The researchers say that
rather than oblige consumers to install specific systems – often at
considerable expense – they’re trying to make immersive listening experiences
available to anyone by intelligently re-purposing content for whatever devices
they already have available.
The MDO concept is now
being further developed by the S3A team in order to automate the process of
'labelling' sounds and connecting them with available speakers.
Salford
University – led by Professors Trevor Cox and Bill Davies recently worked with
the BBC to create a short film - The Turning Forest – which won the TVB Europe
Award for Best Achievement in Sound 2016.
https://youtu.be/51za5u3LtEc