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Toni Mateos, director of Barcelona Media’s audio research line, sits down at a computer. With a few clicks, he pulls up a scene on a huge screen at the front of the room. An image of a lizard fills the screen. Sounds of minute movements, including the faint crackling of a twig, emanate from the two dozen speakers in the test facility. Suddenly, it begins to rain on screen. In the room, the sound emanates not from the screen, not from around the room, but from directly overhead, above the listeners’ heads. This is no movie theater surround-sound: this sound transports viewers to the center of a tropical downpour.
This 3-D audio programming is a product of research at Barcelona Media, located in the heart of the city. 3-D sound has not yet reached anywhere near the penetration of 3-D visual imagery, in part because of challenges in both recording and broadcasting it, and in part because standardization of speakers and algorithms to translate signals to the speakers is lacking. So far, there are multiple systems for recording and broadcasting three-dimensional sound, and they need to match exactly.
To overcome this challenge, engineers at Barcelona Media are approaching the problem by recording not just the acoustic pressure of the sound waves, but other parameters, including the speed of the waves. They’re simultaneously developing computer programs that can translate these signals into 3-D recordings for a variety of speaker systems, without knowing the configuration of the end broadcast.
The sound research team has also modified these 3-D sound systems to allow for a realistic sound experience within a virtual environment. For instance, a viewer may move among flamenco musicians on a screen; as the viewer moves past a guitar player, the trills of the guitar suddenly emanate from behind.
The center has also developed a 3-D virtual representation of the city of Barcelona for urban planners. Its users can navigate through the city and evaluate planned projects and their impact on the city, right down to noise and shadow impacts. They can also leave behind the public face of the city and descend beneath the buildings to travel among the cable fibers and gas conduits.
“This is a sector that’s based on creativity,” says Marta Ysern, director of special projects. “And in order to survive, you have to be successful–and that means that we must be constantly innovating.”
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