Bringing Ambisonics to the Portal

Initial tests on a simple binaural setup between the Trondheim and Oslo portals gave some insights into what rendered “effective” sonic placement, and also what: not so much. Using the IEM Software Suite, we were able to create an ambisonic environment over a two classroom setup. There was a bit of difficultly regarding the previous complexity of our configuration involving the Lola system.

IEM Room Encoder

Here are some screenshots for those who are interested of what it would look like in the Reaper DAW.

Reaper setup
Reaper routing

Results

We found that the experience of listening to our classmates on the other side of Norway was enriching and offered a massive improvement of intelligibility. We were able map each of microphones that we sent into a virtual space (and receive in the same way) and as a result hear the input from each of the microphones as a point in a virtual room (complete with reverb). Our virtual room had the same dimensions as the classrooms we were currently in. Thus, we hoped to put our classmates in Trondheim into the Oslo classroom and vice versa.

Having room-dimensions set correctly - and a virtual reverb emulation providing spatial reflections entailed some confusion. After some massaging of equalization, as well as a factoring for the different refractional qualities of the walls, floor, and ceiling - a more “natural” rendition of the room gave a wholly more natural experience of our space in our headphones.