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Project
General Objectives
The research and development
of solutions for immersive
audio aims at implementing
a flexible and scalable
system for spatial audio
production and reproduction
(2D and 3D audio).
Flexible in the direction
to offer a minimum set
of alternatives for
audio spatialization
and auralization that
can take care of the
applications supporting
sound in diverse formats,
from stereo/binaural
to the most sophisticated
3D/multichannel audio
coding formats in development
(multi-format support).
Scalable in the sense
that it can concurrently
use different formats,
schemes and/or methods
for sound display, can
change the reproduction
array configuration
by changing the number
of used loudspeakers
and their localization
depending on the auralization
method, can employ additional
techniques or tools
even in cummulative
ways, as for example
associating commercial
reverberation machines
to model envelopment,
or in the sense that
it can use diverse computational
systems (hardware and
software) at the same
time (multi-configuration
support).
Scalability in AUDIENCE
is also associated to
the capability to increase
the complexity of an
auditory scene, by adding
new objects and sound
sources.
A
more complete version
of the architecture
of sound production,
distribution and reproduction
is in development, encompassing
characteristics such
as support for open
standards, modularity,
reconfigurability and
recursion in the implementation
of auralization machines.
Project objectives
include since the implementation
of transcoding systems
for the traditional
surround formats and
configurations (e.g.
5.1, 7.1, 10.2) up to
the development and
deployment of more sophisticated
formats for generation
and reproduction of
3D audio, still restricted
to the high-fidelity
applications and research
environments, in frank
development. For these
formats not only the
reverberation and envelopment
are important, but also
the localization of
sound objects distributed
in a three-dimensional
scene (perception of
the sound directivity)
as well as the synthesis
of the acoustic environment.
In this category we
include the Ambisonics
and the Wave-Field Synthesis.
The immersive audio
project for the Digital
Cave also foresees a
line of activities focused
in the research and
development of software
and hardware (loudspeaker
arrays and multichannel
platforms) for the implementation
mainly of these two
formats of 3D audio.
Formally, the general
objectives of the AUDIENCE
project are:
- implementation
of flexible and scalable
sound systems for
spatial (surround,
2D and 3D) audio reproduction
- flexible: multiformat
- capable of dealing
with multiple
formats for recording,
compression and
2D/3D audio (ex:
AAC, AC-3)
- scalable: multiconfiguration
- capable of adapting
to diverse configurations
(geometries) and
number of loudspeakers
(multichannel
modes)
- deployment of a
modular and reconfigurable
reference architecture
for the implementation
and integration of
functions related
to the process in
the audio chain -
from production
to final consume
- deployment of a
development plataform
based on free/open
software, to prototype
the components of
the functional layers
proposed in the AUDIENCE
architecture
- development of a
complete spatial sound
system for environment
auralization, with
software and hardware
- initial usage scenario
aiming at auralization
for immersive virtual
reality environments,
and then at auralization
of audiovisual 3D
scenes
- focus on the research/use
of 3D soundfield production
techniques, more accurate
and realistic than
surround 5.1, such
as Ambisonics and
Wave Field Synthesis
- validation of an
architecture/system
that make possible
the integration of
different techniques
for 3D audio, including
the most popular formats/techniques,
such as Dolby 5.1
and DTS.
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