Spatial Audio Research at Aalto – With Brainwaves and Systematic Research into World-wide Applications

Description of impact

Spatial audio is a field of audio engineering where the directions and distances of sound sources and acoustic properties of the space are captured, transmitted and reproduced to the listener, therefore playing a central role in a realistic and immersive audio experience in consumer and professional applications. In this area, several highly successful spatial audio techniques have been developed by
the Communication Acoustics research group in the Department of Signal Processing and Acoustics (SPA) of Aalto University, led by Associate Prof. Ville Pulkki. These techniques, now in worldwide use, are based on deep understanding of the resolution of human hearing in space, frequency and time, the physics of acoustical fields, and on the development of parametric DSP methods for spatial audio processing. The techniques developed at Aalto have been taken into use in the cinema and gaming industries, broadcasting, and audio-visual head-mounted virtual reality displays. In addition, Prof. Pulkki has received several prestigious awards for the achievements.

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