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This team is trying to create 3D audio for virtual reality
THRIVE, which is based in TCD, has been working on creating immersive 3D audio for the good part of a decade and now they’re bringing it to virtual reality.
THE ADVANCEMENTS WITH Virtual Reality (VR) devices like the Oculus Rift, bought by Facebook earlier this year, and other projects like Samsung Galaxy Gear VR and Sony’s Project Morpheus slowly coming into the mainstream.
Yet it’s still early days and while the visuals are impressive, using depth perception to create the feeling you’re there is still amazing no matter what you’re doing, other factors that add to the overall experience haven’t caught up yet.
Traditionally, audio for any medium, TV, film and gaming, is fixed and cannot react to the actions of a game. Yet THRIVE can provide audio that reacts in real-time to a listener’s movements in virtual scenarios, taking into account height, distance and depth.
After experimenting with 3D audio over headphones using devices like Microsoft’s Kinect (which detects physical gestures) and other headtracking technologies, the team has moved onto Oculus Rift, planning to bring 3D audio to the platform.
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By using the head tracking capabilities of Oculus Rift to aid 3D audio, it creates a link between both sound and audio creating a more immersive experience.
A team of five is behind this technology, originating from TCD’s School of Engineering, and has been working on audio research for the good part of a decade now.
One of the members is the professor of Engineering Science, Frank Boland, mentioned how reducing that disconnect became a greater challenge bringing in the head tracking capabilities of Oculus Rift.
When you bring in the immersive visual experience from something like the Oculus [Rift], you’re now bringing in more complicated elements because if you’re on a seashore and you’re looking out to sea and then you move your head 90 degrees, you don’t want the sea to move with you. You expect the sound of the sea to be still, back for where you know where the sea is so you got to be able to stabilise the audio so that it retains its reference as you move your head around.
Currently, the team has worked with a number of developers in the indie game scene in Ireland, but the team has spoken to people from all areas such as development companies, the games industry, both indie and large publishers, and technology companies.
The team has developed a Unity plug-in for games developers as well as a standalone API (application programming interface) for those not involved in gaming.
While the project has come in leaps and bounds, Prof Boland says there’s still a long way to go with challenges to bring 3D audio to devices that aren’t headphones.
This isn’t finished yet… because there are a number of quite obvious challenges that need to be resolved,” explained Prof Boland.”Headphones problems are delivery of accurate audio, particularly height, in it and trying to deliver the same sort of experience but over loudspeakers.”
Not cluttering your room with a load of speakers surrounding the room, but having loudspeakers in front of you so that you are able to get that spacial effect… so there are a number of challenges [involved].
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@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: That’s money well spent on the less well of in our country, and come from me a person who has worked for over 52 years and never looked for anything from the state.
@CODE 29: in 46, lost my job after 20 years… I’m struggling to find a job that will support my 2 kids. I’m able bodied and willing. It’s not so simple out there. I’ve to go back to collage at 46 or take a job stacking shelves again
Harris is not for me.. They are trying to buy votes without any shadow of a doubt, and hopefully the good people of Ireland will not fall for it!
And as for the send me an email remark… he’s too busy shaking hands to have anytime whatsoever for reading and replying to emails.
@Neil Harvey: Who are you for? The party that promises a house for everyone in the audience. There are always a lot of posts complaining that the Journal is biased in favour of the government parties. Comments not open on the latest scandal besetting SF. Not even a comment on her “ lessons to be learned “ comment.
@Vincent Alexander: same thing Fine Fail and Fine Gael said when one of their councillors sexually assaulted a woman and the latter for sexually assaulting an 8 year old child. All wires from the same brush
@Mr Inbetween: What the Catholic Church did was horrendous, but what has to do with SF giving references to a sex offender?
Typical ohh, look over there, and Mary, lou trying to deflect in the Dail today. I presume you are delighted that the references were given and that nobody informed the BHF of the accusations?
There is more to this to come out so I wouldn’t be so sure that certain people didn’t know what actually went on.
@Vincent Alexander: I’m for the best person for the job. I dont give a hoot about the colour of the rosette.
I think its OK to say that Harris is not my cup of tea!
@Vincent Alexander: Give over, they’re worse by far. Their principles and values, if you could call them such, change with the wind. Condemning Israel out of one side of their mouths and refusing to sign the occupied territories bill with the other. Not a shred of integrity between FFFG
It’s definitely an attempt at bribery to swing an election, because if as Simon Harris claims his actions are prompted by listening to what people want, he would have started building social housing across the country on week one of his role as Taoiseach.
Affordable housing and the lack thereof, is without doubt the number one concern across the entire country and it’s also the thing that the government as a whole and Simon Harris in particular as Taoiseach is blatantly ignoring.
@Dvsespaña: Exactly if he listened to the people USC would be gone having been originally told it was temporary. This government and the previous government have done nothing about social housing knowing the damage it was doing to thousands of people and put vulture funds ahead of families. Have they listened to the people in regards to the children’s hospital of the cost and location? This budget is like sticking a plaster over an open wound. It will come back to haunt them.
@Alan Moloney: They call that nonsense “leadership”. School yard kids wouldn’t behave like them. No wonder everything is broken. When you have wasters in suits believing they are doing the right thing when in fact they haven’t a bloody clue what they are doing, then the country will go nowhere. They actually pay advisors to tell them they are doing a great job. The lowest form of human on the planet.
There’s work everywhere now. Look who’s working as cleaners, garbage collectors, construction workers, security guards, hospitality sectors? Mostly immigrants. Why would dole collectors consider this job if they get 100, 200 quid less or the same or more for doing nothing?
Its easy to see why Harris would give out his email. some lackey or civil servant opens that account – not Harris. You will get a long winded insincere answer, and the smirking and two faced answers will continue.
The little perick and his FFG/g mates did bribe the electorate then took any gains back due to the greens and their obsession with carbon taxes and the ESB PSO charge increase. The electorate, judging by the polls, are too foolish to see this.
I tell you what he’s not going to do he’s not going to ask. Any member of the gang to not take the double child allowance cause they earn enough money . They should be exempt from the child allowance payments
@thomas molloy: Those rotten scoundrels! I can’t believe they want to cancel Christmas but you just said it AND wrote it down, so it must be true. You hardly just pulled it out of your backside in a mindless, Trumpian, fox news type of sound bite with absolutely no rationale behind it. Hardly
Well said Taoiseach what a joke these lads are, spend all their time moaning about the people not getting anything and then when they do they say it’s a bad move. Opposition is so weak in this country.
@Hotirish: he’s not spending it wisely. Like the 9million on phone pouches spend it on poor kids on long surgery waiting lists. On more teachers sna s secondary schools and get that fecking children’s hospital up and running
Typical Social Democratic Attack, stones in a tin can rattling around and making noise without substance. It is obviously an acquired part of being a member of this middle stream “Wannabe” in power Party . . Unfortunately not realistic for the people, all in all just another group of Complainers in the Dáil.
Decisions have been made We can argue anyway but which way Good luck to those who benefit The rest of us [yes me included] suck it up butter cup!
I’ll get them in the long grass!
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