No, stop checking your calendar – it’s not April Fool’s Day. According to the BBC, they are in the earlier stages of developing 3D radio.
So Satellite TV has to ask – Who? Why? How? When?
*Who?
The BBC are pioneering this concept of 3D radio. A bit of researching on the internet seems to show there is already a 3D radio station in Hungary! However the BBC have got their engineers hard at work to develop the technology and acoustics needed to broadcast radio in 3D.
*Why?
Readers, listeners and viewers are all getting demanding nowadays. We are no longer content with the norm and love the way technology pushes our pre conceived boundaries. So we expect more. Frank Melchior is the lead technologist for audio at the BBC and said:
“We want to deliver a new experience to the audience that gives them more immersion and involvement in the content.We also have to make sure we are flexible enough in the delivery of this content. It has to sound OK on headphones as well as on speakers”
*How?
Well, I am no scientist but apparently the acoustics trick the brain into thinking that sound is coming at them from all directions including above and below thus giving you the impression you are sat in a theatre or at a musical event. The BBC say they could use the sounds to make the listener think an object is actually falling.
Anthony Churnside who co wrote a research paper for the BBC talked about their testing on a radio play of the Wizard of Oz, Last Night of the Proms and a concert by Elbow. He said:
“There are a number of ways to create 3D sound. There are psychoacoustic tricks that can make you perceive sound from above and below.
“With the Wizard of Oz we concentrated on a couple of scenes including the tornado when it takes the house away. Suddenly we had mooing cows thrown up into the air, and the wind could be all around you. With 3D sound you have every direction to play with so you can be really quite creative.
“For an orchestra or a live event, the majority of the sounds come from the stage in front of you, but the sense of immersion comes from the sound bouncing off the roof and the walls.”
*When?
Well, seeing that we have only just got 3D television in our homes, we are not expecting 3D radio to be in the shops next month. There are no timescales given by the BBC but they did stress it was in the early stages of development. There are still other ways for them to test and Anthony Churnside said:
”The final solution will probably be a hybrid of the technologies so that we can record, produce, broadcast and listen to the audio in the most flexible way.”
Could it be that in 5 years time we are all talking about how we ever managed before 3D radio? Satellite TV would love to hear Wimbledon or Formula 1 in 3D radio !
So Satellite TV has to ask – Who? Why? How? When?
*Who?
The BBC are pioneering this concept of 3D radio. A bit of researching on the internet seems to show there is already a 3D radio station in Hungary! However the BBC have got their engineers hard at work to develop the technology and acoustics needed to broadcast radio in 3D.
*Why?
Readers, listeners and viewers are all getting demanding nowadays. We are no longer content with the norm and love the way technology pushes our pre conceived boundaries. So we expect more. Frank Melchior is the lead technologist for audio at the BBC and said:
“We want to deliver a new experience to the audience that gives them more immersion and involvement in the content.We also have to make sure we are flexible enough in the delivery of this content. It has to sound OK on headphones as well as on speakers”
*How?
Well, I am no scientist but apparently the acoustics trick the brain into thinking that sound is coming at them from all directions including above and below thus giving you the impression you are sat in a theatre or at a musical event. The BBC say they could use the sounds to make the listener think an object is actually falling.
Anthony Churnside who co wrote a research paper for the BBC talked about their testing on a radio play of the Wizard of Oz, Last Night of the Proms and a concert by Elbow. He said:
“There are a number of ways to create 3D sound. There are psychoacoustic tricks that can make you perceive sound from above and below.
“With the Wizard of Oz we concentrated on a couple of scenes including the tornado when it takes the house away. Suddenly we had mooing cows thrown up into the air, and the wind could be all around you. With 3D sound you have every direction to play with so you can be really quite creative.
“For an orchestra or a live event, the majority of the sounds come from the stage in front of you, but the sense of immersion comes from the sound bouncing off the roof and the walls.”
*When?
Well, seeing that we have only just got 3D television in our homes, we are not expecting 3D radio to be in the shops next month. There are no timescales given by the BBC but they did stress it was in the early stages of development. There are still other ways for them to test and Anthony Churnside said:
”The final solution will probably be a hybrid of the technologies so that we can record, produce, broadcast and listen to the audio in the most flexible way.”
Could it be that in 5 years time we are all talking about how we ever managed before 3D radio? Satellite TV would love to hear Wimbledon or Formula 1 in 3D radio !
I thought the idea of sound coming out of different speakers was called stereo?. Hmm :rimshot: :nopity: :scratching: Is this another money making scam?.
