Sound Field Reproduction: Aiming for Presence beyond Presence

Department of Communication Design Science, Faculty of Design
Professor Akira Omoto

We call any place where there is sound a sound field. Our laboratory conducts research centered on measurement, evaluation, and control of sound fields. Our recent focus has been a subject called sound field reproduction. This is a technology for reproducing one sound field at another place. It is an old subject, but its evolution continues today. A typical example would be reproduction of the acoustics of a concert hall at another place. However, the scope of application is actually broad, involving other situations, such as noisy environments and sound fields within car cabins. Our chief aim is to build a versatile sound field reproduction system compatible with a wide variety of sound fields.

There are basically two types of methods for sound field reproduction. One approaches sound field reproduction in terms of pure physics or engineering, and the other artistically creates sound fields. We believe that higher degree integration of these two methods is the key to improve overall performance of versatile systems. Specifically, we hypothesize the following four as important elements, and we try to improve each of them.
A. Reproduction based on physical principle(s)
B. Reliable design that can transmit necessary information even if the sound field is disrupted, for example by movement of multiple listeners
C. Allowance of scope for further artificial rendition through modifying frequency characteristics, reverberation, and volume for specific directions.
D. Compatibility with visual information for improved immersion and sound localizability
We aim to realize presence surpassing presence by effectively combining these four elements.

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Department of Communication Design Science, Faculty of Design
Professor Akira Omoto