The car offers a great starting point for playing 3D sound content. At the latest with the advent of self-propelled cars, automotive audio can go beyond entertainment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[133,141],"class_list":["post-1659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-0dof-en","tag-business-industry-en"],"acf":{"remove_from_blog_overview":false,"alternative_title":"","previewimg":18760,"text":"##How 3D sound changes automotive audio\r\n\r\nThe sound engineer Martin Rieger, owner of VRTonung, has produced the sound for numerous VR and AR projects. He is also in great demand as a speaker on the subject of immersive sound. In the car, 3D audio and an advanced automotive sound system open up a range of possibilities for him. Here is the German interview with [link url=\"https:\/\/www.meinungsbarometer.info\/beitrag\/Das-Auto-als-Konzertsaal_3622.html\" text=\"Meinungsbarometer.info\"] (opinion barometer) \r\n\r\n###Update 22\/10: \r\nMercedes-Benz just announced a collaboration with Apple Music. Powered by Dolby Atmos, spatial audio will be the next standard in cars. Read more below\r\n\r\n###Update 23\/01:\r\nAmazon Music offers immersive audio experiences powered by MPEG-H Audio standard. Known as 360 Reality Audio, built into an Audio E-Tron.\r\n\r\n###Update 24\/09:\r\n[link id=\"11306\" text=\"Here is an article\"] on how Dolby Atmos is used in the automotive audio sector for 3D sound: \r\n\r\n##Advantages of in-car 3D audio over stereo sound?\r\n\r\n3D audio can reproduce much more realistically than stereo how we humans perceive sound in our natural environment. Signal processing plays a crucial role in enhancing 3D audio quality in vehicles, making the experience more immersive. This is why it is called immersive audio, because you can literally immerse yourself in the sound. Even in a vehicle.\r\n\r\n[image id=\"16303\"]\r\n\r\n###Endless possibilities for creative sound design\r\n\r\nFor example, the car can be acoustically transformed into a concert hall, creating a superior sound experience that is in tune with the specific characteristics and philosophies of car manufacturers. You hear the orchestra in front and the audience in the back and are enveloped in the three-dimensional sound \u2013 just like in reality.\r\n\r\n###Personalized listening experience for all passengers\r\n\r\nThe car can also be divided into so-called listening zones, which is less descriptive of 3D audio in the conventional sense but just as exciting. Ideally, different audio content can be played in each seat without the other passengers being able to listen in, even though the same speaker system is used. \r\n\r\nHowever, this technology is mainly driven by loudspeakers that are installed in headrests and, despite being positioned directly at the back of the head, can produce a three-dimensional sound impression.\r\n\r\n##What possibilities do loudspeakerless systems offer for 3D audio?\r\n\r\nContinental and Sennheiser presented a new car sound system at the CES 2023. This system makes the surfaces inside the car vibrate, eliminating the need for visible speakers. This innovative approach is ushering in a new era of car audio technology.\r\n\r\nStrictly speaking, listening with just two loudspeakers does not correspond to our listening habits. We can clearly locate the sound as a point or phantom source from the direction of the playback devices.\r\n\r\n[image id=\"16305\"]\r\n\r\n###A new form of sound perception\r\n\r\nAlthough if you imagine, for example, an acoustic band in a jazz club, the sound is carried into the room by various sound sources. In the form of musical instruments, with different sizes and radiation characteristics. Loudspeakerless systems could solve the problem of localization and create a listening impression that could be even more natural.\r\n\r\n###Benefits beyond sound engineering\r\n\r\nHowever, the greatest advantages are less to be found in sound engineering. Weight can be saved and designers have to make fewer compromises with visible speakers when creating the interior.\r\n\r\n[newsletteroptin text=\"Cars excite the future, so be informed\"]\r\n\r\n##What potential does this offer for Augmented Reality (AR)?\r\n\r\nIn the car, 3D audio technology can be used to provide the driver with precise directional information. This technology creates an immersive experience by enhancing in-car audio through innovative spatial audio and dynamic sound rendering, enveloping passengers in a rich auditory landscape.\r\n\r\n[image id=\"16299\"]\r\n\r\n###More than just a Beep\r\n\r\nWarning signals in the automotive audio sector rarely go beyond a designed beeping in mono. My colleagues at Impulse Audio Lab are working on sound design for electric cars, among other things. If such specially designed driving sounds are used as audio objects that can be moved freely in 3D space, the driver could, for example, be told that he is being overtaken by a car that is in the blind spot on the left or even save a life. And that without the driver having to move his head. Comparable alarm systems are often built into the side mirror and usually communicate only visually.\r\n\r\n###Exciting for self-driving (autonomous) cars\r\n\r\nThus, 3D audio would add value to the driver\u2019s environmental awareness and would be elegantly sounding without beeps and instead use sound design, which could be mixed charmingly into the current music playback.\r\n\r\n##Is there enough content to help 3D audio make a breakthrough?\r\n\r\nBeyond the obvious music and movie productions, there is already a lot of immersive audio content being created, such as virtual reality and augmented reality, soundbars, smart speakers, etc.\r\n\r\n[image id=\"16297\"]\r\n\r\n###Spatial Audio is faster than Cars\r\n\r\nThe only thing missing is a standard that allows a master file to be played correctly on all devices, regardless of the number of speakers or whether headphones are used for binaural playback. Furthermore, a lot is happening in the world of streaming providers. Dolby, a global leader in immersive entertainment experiences, works with Amazon Music through its Dolby Atmos Music format, and Sony has had more than 1000 titles remixed into 3D audio with its \u201c360 Reality Audio\u201d format. They are distributing them on Deezer and Tidal, among others.\r\n\r\n###Plan B already exists: Surround Upmixer\r\n\r\nBy the time cars are actually on the market with a 3D audio system, there will already be countless hours of material. However, even if not, so-called upmixers from mere stereo signals already deliver impressive 3D audio experiences. Even if not with quite as much goosebumps as specially produced content, which has been a big topic in the sound engineer scene for years.\r\n\r\n##Adoption is not the bottleneck\r\n\r\nWhich car brands actually ship Dolby Atmos is something I [link id=\"11306\" text=\"track in a separate article\"] \u2014 including what the format really delivers, where the mixes fall short, and why retrofitting an existing car rarely works.\r\n\r\nWhat matters here is the conclusion: the hardware question is settled, the production question is not. A cabin is a room where nobody sits in the sweet spot, where the windscreen reflects, and where absorption changes with every passenger. Almost nothing is mixed for that. It is why the feature impresses on the test drive and goes unused afterwards.\r\n\r\n##Dolby Atmos in Cars for 3D Audio\r\n\r\nApple Music and Mercedes-Benz have announced that their highly acclaimed Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos is now available as a native experience in vehicles. This marks the first time this technology has been offered on such an extensive scale by any brand or manufacturer!\r\n\r\nI had the pleasure to test Dolby\u2019s demo vehicle at the [link id=\"4136\" text=\"IAA Munich\"] and [link id=\"6388\" text=\"IFA Berlin\"]. Although I like to point out the negative effects of Dolby Atmos, I have to admit that the demos I heard were fun. \r\n\r\n[image id=\"16295\"]\r\n\r\n###When Marketing creates 4d sound?!\r\n\r\nD sound is the new 3d audio!? Well, not really but it always makes me giggle when the PR department of big companies apparently doesn\u2019t talk with the tech department to create new marketing terms. According to Mercedes-Benz AG, the multidimensional soundscape powered by the Burmester Audiosysteme GmbH\u00ae high-end 4D sound system includes: Two car projects I worked on myself: [link id=\"967\" text=\"the Harman\/Kardon and BMW VR audio showroom\"] and [link id=\"964\" text=\"Samsung and BMW in-car entertainment in VR\"].\r\n\r\n- 31 speakers, including six 3D speakers that emit their sound from above, 4 near-ear speakers in the front seats, an 18.5-liter subwoofer\r\n- 8 sound transducers (two per seat)\r\n- 2 amplifiers\r\n- 1750 watts of power\r\n\r\nWait what? So the four bullet points are the 4d of sound? No, but what gets you the extra dimension is a so-called \u201cExciter\u201d that converts sound into a vibration that you can feel. In VR I work a lot with haptics and it really can help to boost immersion. How that works in practice, from the tap in your phone to a vibration vest driven by the mix, is in [link id=\"10949\" text=\"sound haptics\"].\r\n\r\n##Sound that does a job: AVAS and the quiet car\r\n\r\nEverything above is about entertainment. The more interesting brief is sound that has a function.\r\n\r\nElectric cars are quiet enough to be dangerous at low speed, so regulators stepped in. In Europe, UNECE R138 requires new electric and hybrid vehicles to emit an acoustic vehicle alerting system signal at low speeds; in the US, FMVSS 141 does the same. Every EV on the road carries a sound it is legally required to make.\r\n\r\nIn most cases that sound is treated as a compliance item. It gets signed off by engineers against a measurement, not designed by anyone who thinks about what it communicates. The result is the synthetic hum you hear in car parks, indistinguishable from brand to brand. It can be done differently. The drive sound of the Audi e-tron GT was built from 32 audio tracks over more than a hundred iterations, assembled from recordings of pipes, a wind tunnel and a model helicopter. I was responsible for the [link id=\"20426\" text=\"binaural location sound of the film about it\"].\r\n\r\nWhich is remarkable, because it is the only sound of the car that everyone outside the car hears. A pedestrian never hears the Burmester system. They hear the AVAS. It is brand identity at street level, and it is mostly unclaimed.\r\n\r\nThe same logic applies inside. A blind-spot warning that simply beeps forces the driver to work out where the danger is. A warning placed in three-dimensional space \u2014 coming from the side the car is actually on \u2014 is understood before it is consciously processed. That is not a gimmick; it is a reduction in reaction time, and it is exactly what object-based automotive sound design makes possible with hardware that is already installed.\r\n\r\nEntertainment justifies the speaker count on a spec sheet. Functional sound justifies it in daily use \u2014 and it is the part almost nobody has designed properly yet.\r\n\r\n##Sony 360 Reality Audio for automotive \r\n\r\nAmazon Music offers immersive audio experiences powered by MPEG-H Audio standard, available on mobile and living room devices as well as in-car entertainment systems to play music. Media playback is crucial in optimizing audio experiences for automotive systems, ensuring high-quality sound and seamless integration with interactive sound generation and vehicle acoustic tuning. \r\n\r\nAt CES 2020 visitors will be able for the first time to experience Amazon Music\u2019s 360 Reality Audio streamed into an automotive environment. All this with a production 3D car audio system installed in an Audi e-tron car.\r\n\r\nThe advanced audio car sound systems benefit from discrete spatial audio for all vehicle types. Including rear seat entertainment with headphones featuring headtracking capabilities enabled by MPEG-H Audio technology. This enables personalization and accessibility features.\r\n\r\nApart from entertainment, Fraunhofer IIS has developed advanced warning sounds rendered spatially. Just like I forecasted with this article a while ago. Cars are an incredible infrastructure for automotive audio with the right audio system. It gets easier than ever to play immersive audio content with high sound quality. But there is so much more to discover than Apple Music and sounds [link id=\"3446\" text=\"not quite right\"]. \r\n\r\n**Let's find out the real potential!**\r\n\r\n[ytvideo id=\"y8edcNEi04c\"]\r\n\r\n###Get your immersive audio experiences\r\nVRTonung is an official distributor for the VW group and BMW Group. So get in touch now and find out how to create the car sound of the future with innovative content!\r\n\r\n###Let's talk about your project\r\n\r\nAre you working on a VR experience and the audio still feels flat?\r\n\r\n[link id=\"155\" text=\"Get in touch \u2192\"]\r\n","related_articles":[871,879,7125,5415,4719]},"yoast_head":"\n