CMU School of Drama


Monday, February 20, 2017

The History (and Future) of 3D Audio

Hooke: The hot name for all things immersive audio today is "3d audio". Whether it's a headphone, microphone, amusement ride or algorithm, more and more companies are pushing to support this somewhat illusive format of "3D Audio".

So what is 3D Audio? How did it come about? Where did it start?

2 comments:

Galen shila said...

This article was particularity interesting. I find the effect of 3D sound incredibly convincing when it comes to storytelling and overall audio experiences. Looking at the history of 3D sound it is obvious that people have always wanted to recreate the sounds that surround them in every day life. Replicating how our ears collect sound brings a more realistic experience. Not only that but it allows us to explore the directionality of sound. Making someone sound like they are right behind you gives the audience a scare because our ears do a really good job at communicating to our brain where sound is coming from. This allows for a much more realistic and immersive experience. It can also help shape a space that you are not actually in. This can make a stage feel larger or smaller than it actually is. you can play with the psychology of this and make an audience feel claustrophobic or nervous with nothing but sound.

Simone Schneeberg said...

Sound is so weird. You often forget that sound is a thing, its a wave with an origin location and a direction. Because you do it without thinking, you forget that the brain uses these waves to orient, to place the scene around you. Because of this, we can manipulate sound like crazy, and in doing so manipulate the brain. Listening to the videos in this article with my headphones on was entirely unsettling. It was creepy in the coolest way, because your mind plays into it almost immediately. It really does feel like things are right around you, people are conversing in far corners of the room, or breathing right into your ear. I feel like sound almost gets overlooked far too often in favor of sight. The eyes do play the largest role in processing the scenes around us as they see what is really going on; however, we have five senses for a reason. Together they grasp the full experience of the environment, hearing being at least the second most powerful and the easiest to fool.