HSI

Designing an Interactive Audiospatial-Experience Using a Reverb Simulation Room

This real-time spatial-audio system lets you transform your voice into real acoustic environments in a low resonance chamber.

Initial situation

Every real place has its own acoustic character, the echoes and reflections reveal its size and materials. These acoustic profiles can be recorded and recreated in virtual audio spaces, so listeners feel like they are really there.
However, most exhibits today rely on fixed recordings of ambience, offering little in the way of interactivity or real‐time exploration.

Project goal

The goal of this project is to create an accessible, real-time spatial-audio installation that invites anyone to explore and compare the acoustic signatures of real unique locations.

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Low-Resonance Chamber outside
Low-Resonance Chamber speakers
Low-Resonance Chamber inside
Low-Resonance Chamber installation

Solution developed

We built a spatial-audio installation inside a low-resonance chamber (Hardware and Software) that captures live vocal input, processes it through real-time convolution with high-quality impulse responses, and renders the output over stereo speakers.
At its core, a Swift-App running on an iPad Pro manages a low-latency audio pipeline while presenting a simple touch interface for selecting between five distinct real locations as well as an audio playground for free exploration. The hardware in the low resonance-chamber consists of a condenser microphone, four speakers and an audio interface ensuring high quality sound.
The installation is designed to ensure a simple plug-and-play setup at exhibitions.

Key terms

  • Impulse ResponseA recording of a space's acoustic signature
  • Realtime ConvolutionThe process of applying an impulse response to a live signal
  • Spatial AudioAudio processing techniques that simulate three-dimensional sound
  • Low-Resonance ChamberAn acoustically treated space designed to minimize unwanted reflections
  • User-Centered DesignA design approach that involves end-users throughout development
  • SwiftProgramming Language used
  • AudioKitFramework used
  • iPad AppSoftware platform

Customer

Logos

School of Education FHNW
Prof. Dr. Gabriel Imthurn
Bahnhofstrasse 6
5210 Windisch
Website

Team

Joël Hauri
Dominic Obrecht

Advisor
Prof. Dr. Kevin Kim