From MP3 to audio in 3D

Karlheinz Brandenburg of the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology helped develop the MP3 format more than a decade ago, setting the stage for a new era of music consumption. Lately, he's been adding a new dimension to his audio achievements -- technology to deliver sound in true 3D.

Tuesday at noon, Brandenburg unveiled the first U.S. deployment of this technology at Mann's Chinese 6 theater in Hollywood. Distributed by a Fraunhofer spin-off called Iosono, the 3D sound system consists of dozens of wall-mounted speakers controlled by software that dictates what each one of them plays at any given moment. The point is to make the audio appear to come not from speakers, but from different spots in and around the enclosed space. As with 3D video techniques, "wave field synthesis" technology creates not just the sensation of sound extending out from the screen -- which surround-sound techniques can also do -- but also the illusion of sources deep behind the screen's surface. It's also more precise than surround sound, and the listener doesn't have to be in the center of the room to get the full effect.

Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands came up with the theory behind wave field synthesis about 20 years ago, Brandenburg said, but personal computers weren't powerful enough at the time to do the work. About eight and a half years ago, efforts to develop the technology took off when the European Union and a local German governing body provided funding for it. Over the past couple of years, Iosono has deployed versions of the system in five countries, including a theme-park ride in Germany and a Swiss rehabilitation clinic for the injured. Now, as digital cinema and 3D video spreads, Iosono wants to make its way into theaters, too. The installation at Mann's Chinese 6 wasn't just for demonstration purposes -- it's a permanent upgrade.

The company has at least one competitor, but Brandenburg said it's the first to deploy commercially. Notwithstanding any head start, it faces at least two significant hurdles. It has to persuade Hollywood studios to provide a 3D version of their movies' audio (at least one movie with 3D sound is expected next year), and it has to entice theater owners to invest in the required software, computer systems and extra speakers. That presents a chicken-and-egg problem -- theaters won't want to make the upgrade without a sure stream of movies with 3D sound, and the studios don't want to add 3D soundtracks unless there are theaters equipped to play them.

And if the description of the system has you itching for 3D sound at home, Brandenburg counsels patience. The system's speakers must be mounted in a ring around the room, no more than about 6 inches apart. Even in a relatively small (12x12) living room, you'd need to hang more than 30 speakers on the wall, and there aren't any affordable flat-panel speakers that are up to the task today, he said. In other words, more technological breakthroughs will be needed before Iosono's products show up at Best Buy.

-- Jon Healey

Healey writes editorials for The Times' Opinion Manufacturing Division.

Comments

[Bo Gowan]

The use of 3D audio in theaters may get some support by the fact that 3D audio (also called spatial audio) is a growing trend in other applications such as conference calls and 3D virtual worlds.

DiamondWare (which was recently acquired by Nortel) is one company that has already had some success with their 3D audio technology with gaming applications and in the US military. Nortel bought DiamondWare with the intention of integrating 3D audio into its conference call and virtual business collaboration solutions.

You can hear a demo of spatial audio and what it can do to improve a traditional conf call here: http://tinyurl.com/6j8tfk

If people start getting used to 3D audio in their games and at work, it's just a matter of time before they start demanding it from their movies.

[semi]

According to the Iosono website, the technology doesn't require a remix of the soundtrack; the spatial effects work on a standard DTS or Dolby 5.1 track. This is good because if it required a special mix for a movie, the studios would probably not adopt the technology. Now I don't know if the effect is worth the extra money required to install it in a theatre; without hearing the technology or knowing the costs involved, it's impossible to have an informed opinion.

As a comparison 7.1 surround (from both Dolby and DTS) has been around for years, yet there are almost no movies mixed in this format because the perceived benefits don't outweigh the costs and hassles of creating a separate mix. It's easier to have a 7.1 mix for computer games, so that's where you will find most of the 7.1 content. However it gets expensive and cumbersome to put 7.1 in your home, and I suspect that will be the gating factor with home adoption with this new technology.

Others (some less reputable than others) have been here before. Anybody remember QSound?

[Jon Healey]

Hey, Semi -- I think the technology is backward compatible with surround formats, but to create the true 3D sensation, you need a new mix specifically for 3D. Otherwise, you just get something like surround sound.