Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521235
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 71 The Evolution of Spatial Audio in Immersive Storytelling BY OLIVER KADEL MPSE n area of extended reality and immersive storytelling is in rapid evolution. This emerging mode of experience employs spatial computing, and both plane and object detection to superimpose computer-generated images in the volumetric context of a physical space via a head-mounted display. New-generation immersive media can feature camera pass- through for augmented and mixed reality (MR), completely synthetically generated worlds for virtual reality (VR) or 180° to 360° footage captured on camera. This in turn, produces a unique set of challenges and opportunities for associated audio implementation and aesthetics. Creative development of this audio is often a function of evolving tool sets, associated workflow paradigms and content distribution devices, platforms and physical spaces. This article will explore the current ecosystem of immersive audio by looking at tools, techniques and perception, representative of the state of the art, and forward-facing toward the evolution of the technology and vision of audio in the future of communication and immersive storytelling. The concept of immersive storytelling is far from new. A good book or an on-stage theatre play most certainly falls into that category. Whilst the word immersive has gained popularity alongside VR and 3D audio, it is yet to be universally understood and applied. In 2020, professor Hyunkook Lee from Applied Psychoacoustic Lab, University of Huddersfield, conducted a literature review of numerous deployments and backdrops of this term and developed a framework for an 'immersive experience,' broadly represented by the degree of intersection between physical presence, involvement, social presence, and self-presence. The concept of storytelling perhaps needs less analysis, but it is commonly understood to involve narrative, imagery, evocation, imagination, and engagement often encapsulated as cognitive processes and products of cognition. For the purposes of this article, we will look into a selection of spatial and interactive audio- production and authoring workflows for extended reality immersive storytelling that reveal some of the key elements of the creative and technical process. A