3D audio technology launched at CES 2017: Immersive sound and new levels of realism.
A final frontier in making virtual reality real was crossed at CES 2017 when Dirac Research, the global leader in platform-optimized sound enhancement technology, introduced its Dirac VR platform featuring patent-pending dynamic HRTFs (head-related transfer functions) that consider
the isolated movements of the head in relation to the human torso.
“Dirac VR is a high-end alternative to existing positional audio technologies for headphones,” explained Dirac Research CEO, Dr. Mathias Johansson. “Dirac VR enables transparent sound reproduction and the highest accuracy in localizing sound. For example, if in a VR environment a helicopter is hovering 10 yards in front of me, regardless of which way I turn my head, that helicopter needs to and will stay perfectly fixed. Only Dirac VR can achieve this precise sound localization and accuracy.”
According to Dr. Johansson, it takes a while for a theory to achieve the level of accuracy and quality needed to completely fulfill its promise in practice. “In VR, sound quality requirements are actually greater and more important than in many other applications, as the goal of VR is to fully immerse users, convincing them that they are in fact in a different world. If any detail of the sound playback is flawed it immediately dissolves the illusion of true reality. Dirac’s approach to optimizing sound for VR pays great attention to detail. Not just a single detail, such as the dynamic HRTF approach that we developed and pioneered, and is fundamental to the quest of true immersion, but every detail that will impact the reproduction of sound in a virtual world.”
Johansson credits the company’s 15 years of experience in room acoustics optimization, in addition to the optimization of sound for speakers and earphones of all types, with giving Dirac an edge in optimizing sound for VR. “We knew from experience that we had to delve deeper than anyone had thus far delved. We knew that simply measuring an HRTF with a dummy head and adding some reverberation would not cut it.”
Dirac Research has been a leader in platform-optimized sound enhancement technology for more than 15 years. The company’s list of clients includes a blue chip portfolio of technology leaders such as Rolls Royce, Bentley, BMW, Volvo, Harman, Pioneer, OPPO, Arcam, Datasat, Huawei, OnePlus, and Xiaomi.
