iXDLab

It is the next evolution of auralisation – a collaboration between Arup and the Glasgow School of Art’s Digital Design Studio. They are combining acoustic modelling with 3D imaging. The whole system works to create virtual rehearsal spaces or to understand how a space/venue/hall would sound before its even built.

One minute you can listen how your music would sound in The Royal Albert Hall, the next – in Taj Mahal. Then jumping to the yet to be built olympic Stadium in London. And it’s all produced in a back room in Glasgow.

wired.com

The lab is a box inside a box, mounted on strings and anechoic. Its 12 ambisonic (high-precision surround sound) speakers sitting 3 m apart recreating any acoustic environment within a 1.5 m-diameter sweet spot (pictured above). The user can move around a virtual hall with a joystick to hear how it will sound in different parts of the stadium or a concert hall.

The creators of this project believe that 3D sound will find its way to our homes. To quote Seb Jouan (Arup associate and the founding manager of iXDLab) “It will become a must-have for music lovers.”

Lets hope so!