Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC)

Immersive Audio System Creates Perception of 3-D Sound

New audio technology was demonstrated in an April 2002 performance at the University of Southern California (USC) in a collaboration between the school's Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC), an ERC, and its Thornton School of Music.

The performance, "Flying Sonics! A Tale of Immersive Audio and Diverse Instruments," (see promo page) synthesized a mix of live music played onstage as well as recorded music presented through IMSC's multi-channel Immersive Audio. Attended by more than 200 people, the free concert featured music by Herbie Hancock, George Gershwin, Astor Piazzolla, and Frederic Rzweski.

Audience members heard live music played by two pianists, an electric bass player, and a percussionist—along with music from electronic instruments played synchronously with multi-channel Immersive Audio, a system that uses 10 loudspeakers and two low-frequency sub-woofers to place sound seamlessly around the audience.

Immersive Audio uses multi-channel signal processing to localize and maneuver sound in space to create the illusion of movement. The advanced technology uses multiple loudspeakers and algorithms to generate a true three-dimensional sound field that can immerse a group in an extremely realistic audio environment.

To learn more about this topic:
Visit the Integrated Media Systems Center research page at http://audiolab.usc.edu/research.htm

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Click on the image above to see the full promo
page for the concert, "Flying Sonics! A Tale of
Immersive Audio and Diverse Instruments,"
performed at University of Southern California.

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Last modified: March 8, 2004