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Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 42 – Kedar Shashidhar

Summary

In this episode of the Immersive Audio Podcast, Oliver Kadel is joined by technical sound designer and XR evangelist Kedar Shashidhar via Zoom from LA, US.

Kedar Shashidhar is an XR creator with a focus on spatial audio design and technologies. With a focus on creative research and development, he has worked to help develop new tools, create content, and explore the boundaries of audio in new realities. Most notably he has contributed to the development of various audio toolsets including Steam Audio, Ossic, and Magic Leap Soundfield Audio. He also formed an indie game studio, Blackout VR, focused on developing audio-only games. Kedar is also an active voice for audio in new realities having previously spoken at Audio Engineering Society, GameSoundCon, Indiecade, and more. In his time at Magic Leap, Kedar was working on bringing the newest innovations in mixed reality audio to content creators in order to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible for audio in new realities. Currently, Kedar is working on the next generation of virtual venues and concerts in XR with Stage XR.

In this episode, Kedar speaks candidly about his time at Steam Audio, Ossic and Magic Leap, whilst sharing insights on cutting edge tool development for spatial audio and gives personal advice on how to keep high-level creativity and performance whilst maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

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Show Notes

Kedar Shashidhar – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kedarshashidhar/

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 28 – Audio For Augmented Reality – https://www.1618digital.com/immersive-audio-podcast-episode-28-audio-for-augmented-reality/

Steam Audio – https://valvesoftware.github.io/steam-audio/

Ossic – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/248983394/ossic-x-the-first-3d-audio-headphones-calibrated-t

Magic Leap – https://www.magicleap.com/en-us

Immersive Audio Podcast – Episode 4 Sally-Anne Kellaway – https://www.1618digital.com/immersive-audio-podcast-episode-4-sally-anne-kellaway/

Magic Leap Soundfield Audio – https://developer.magicleap.com/en-us/learn/guides/lumin-sdk-soundfield-audio

AirPods Pro – https://apple.co/3kOCO6h

Royal Shakespeare Experience – https://www.rsc.org.uk/events/magic-leap-seven-ages-of-man

Survey

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Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Michelle Chan with the help of Emma Rees and included music by Knobs Bergamo.

Double Nomination at Raindance Film Festival

We are delighted to see “Rise of Animals with David Attenborough” Magic Leap experience being nominated for two awards at Raindance 2019. It was a great privilege to work on interactive & spatial sound design alongside talented creative and technical teams.

Through the power of hand interaction you’ll discover and bring to life some of the first creatures that roamed the earth – all within your own environment using Magic Leap technology. Driven by a voiceover from David Attenborough and using ultra-realistic real-time animation sequences, this powerful Mixed Reality experience on Magic Leap One is both educational and entertaining.

Raindajnce Festival – https://www.raindanceimmersive.com/#/rise-of-animals-with-david-attenborough/

1.618 Digital Team

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 28 – Audio For Augmented Reality

Summary

In this episode of Immersive Audio Podcast, Felix Thompson, with the help of insightful guest speakers, will look at Audio for Augmented Reality, and how it’s changing peoples’ lives today.

Augmented reality, or AR for short, is an industry that’s been silently booming over the last couple of years. Unlike virtual reality which totally immerses the user, AR offers a blend of the physical and the virtual worlds.

With the huge success of Pokemon Go, which allows people all across the world to see Pokemon floating around in real life via their mobile devices, augmented reality developers want to take the next step in revolutionising how we hear the world too, making augmented reality experiences for tourism, education, music – and even reinventing hearing aids.

 

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Guest Speakers

Elliot Graves, Atlantic Productions

Elliot leads Atlantic Productions’ Immersive and Digital content. As an immersive experience Director, he works across all XR technologies including augmented reality, virtual reality and AI empowered experiences. Prior to Atlantic, he worked in the agency space, creating immersive projects across the world for Nike, Google, Ford, Unicef and UEFA. Elliot started his career in factual production, working with The Royal Geographical Society, the United Nations and the BBC across a range of different initiatives.

 

Jean-Marc Jot, Magic Leap

Dr. Jean-Marc Jot joined Magic Leap to start up its audio algorithms team. Prior to this, Jot led DTS audio processing R&D and innovation. He had also led the development of SoundBlaster audio processing algorithms and architectures, including EAX and OpenAL technologies for game 3D audio authoring and rendering. Before relocating to California in the late 90s, he conducted research at IRCAM in Paris, where he designed the Spat software suite for spatial audio creation, performance and virtual reality.

Immersive Audio Podcast – Episode 22 Audio Design For Mixed Reality Panel at GDC feat. Jean-Marc Jot

 

Sofia Brazzola, Sennheiser

Sofia Brazzola is the User Experience Manager with the AMBEO team based at Sennheiser, where she leads user-centric research to validate and develop new solutions for a range of 3D audio applications. As part of the R&D team who developed the “AMBEO VR Mic”, she launched Sennheiser’s first early-adopters program by engaging with a community of beta-testers and content creators. She is currently leading Sennheiser’s Augmented Audio Developers Program, where early-adopters engagement, user-centric innovation and strategic marketing play another important role in AMBEO’s thought-leadership in AR audio.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 23 Sofia Brazzola

 

Kedar Shashidhar, Magic Leap

Kedar Shashidhar is an audio generalist focused on new realities. With a focus in creative research and development, he has worked to help develop new tools, create content ,and explore the boundaries of audio in new realities. Most notably he has contributed to the development of various audio toolsets including Magic Leap, Steam Audio, and Ossic. He also formed an indie game studio, Blackout VR, focused on developing audio only games. Kedar is also an active voice for audio in new realities having previously spoken at AES, Game Sound Con, Indiecade, and more. Currently at Magic Leap, Kedar works on bringing the newest innovations in mixed reality audio to content creators in order to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible for audio in new realities. You can find his latest work in Magic Leaps Soundfield Audio toolset and a number of experiences on the Magic Leap platform.

Luis Marcelino, Evollu

Luis Marcelino is CTO at Evollu and an adjunct professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria. Evollu aims to help companies in the field of hearing rehabilitation increase their sales and expand their business. They use hearing tests and adaptive listening to support people in the process of improving their hearing. They have developed an augmented audio app that gives people “enhanced hearing.” This “enhanced hearing “ will allow users to selectively improve the quality of sound from different sources. This app was made for people with mild and moderate hearing loss, or for environments where it’s difficult to hear.

 

Per Beck Hansen, AWE

Per Beck Hansen is co-founder and CEO of AWE, a Danish startup working with audio development and design for interactive VR/AR. They have created projects from international VR installations to music driven health care solutions to augmented audio games for tourism. As part of the Ambeo development programme, AWE created the app 1807 for tourists in Copenhagen. Spatialized audio for visitors to Copenhagen – alternative to a tour guide. Users get to experience Copenhagen as it was 200 years ago, while under siege from the British. Expect guns and grenades.

 

Marc Green, University of York Audio Lab

Marc Green is a third-year PhD student at the University of York AudioLab. His research is focused on environmental soundscapes, with a view to utilising techniques from machine listening and spatial audio in their analysis. Using Sennheiser AMBEO technology, he has developed an AR app that could assist urban planners, researchers and architects in creating more positive acoustic environments for people to live and work in.

 

Damian Murphy, University of York

Damian Murphy is a Professor of Sound and Music Computing in the Department of Electronic Engineering at the University of York, where he has been a member of the academic staff since 2000. On top of that, he is the University Research Champion for Creativity. Damian was key in making links between the Sennheiser AMBEO programme and researchers at the University AudioLab to explore the potential for the creative use of augmented audio as part of our wider immersive audio research. One particular area of application is in the use of machine learning to understand and discern more information about our sound environment, and how augmenting this soundscape with additional audio content might change our perception of this soundscape. Damian’s PhD student Marc Green is currently leading on research in the area of spatial audio, machine learning and environmental soundscape and decided to look to how AMBEO technology might feature in his work.

Immersive Audio Podcast Episode 8 Damian Murphy

 

Eric Tarr, Belmont University

Dr. Eric Tarr is an associate professor of Audio Engineering Technology at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. He teaches classes on digital audio, computer programming, signal processing, and analysis. He received a Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Ohio State University. He received a B.A in Mathematics and a minor in Music from Capital University in Columbus, OH. He released an iOS app as a development partner with Sennheiser Electronic using the Smart AMBEO headset for VR/AR audio. The app simulates multiple types of hearing loss for use in hearing science research. It is called the Impaired Hearing Simulator (IHSIM) and is available for free from the iOS app store. He has developed software with several other audio companies including Apogee Electronics, Skywalker Sound, L.R. Baggs, and Harrison Consoles. His research has spanned across the topics of speech signal processing, musical robotics, sound spatialization, acoustic and electronic system modeling, hearing loss, perception and cognition.

Show Notes

Website for awe: https://theawe.dk/

Info on Microsoft Hololens: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens

More information about Pokemon Go: https://www.pokemon.com/uk/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-go/

Article about an augmented reality try on app: https://www.realitytechnologies.com/try-on-shoes-using-this-augmented-reality-app-for-ios/

More information about Sennheiser Augmented Audio Lab and  AMBEO AR One: http://sennheiser-ambeo.com/arone/

More information about St Mary’s Abbey: Reconstructed: https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/yornight/2015/activities/yorkshire-museum/hearing-the-past-st-marys-abbey/

More information about Magic Leap’s Wearable 3D Audio: https://www.magicleap.com/news/news/wearable-3d-audio

Information about Eric Tarr’s work with Sennheiser AMBEO: http://sennheiser-ambeo.com/community/eric-tarr/

Information about the textbook written by Eric Tarr: https://www.mathworks.com/academia/books/hack-audio-tarr.html

Article about Evollu’s work: https://www.jornaldeleiria.pt/detalhe-noticia-print/8844

More information about Luis Marcelino’s work with Sennheiser AMBEO: http://sennheiser-ambeo.com/community/luis-marcelino/

Information of Sigur Ros and Magic Leap collaboration: https://pitchfork.com/news/sigur-ros-and-magic-leap-release-new-vr-experience-tonandi/

How to Balance VR and Realism: https://uploadvr.com/balance-gameplay-realism-creating-vr-sim-experience/

Creadits

This episode was produced by Felix Thompson and Oliver Kadel with the help of Abbigayle Bircham and Share O’Hare and included music by Knobs Bergamo, Isaac Joel and Yung Koolade.

Immersive Audio Podcast – Episode 22 Audio Design for Mixed Reality Applications panel (Sennheiser, GDC 2019)

Summary

In this episode, we bring you the highlights from the “Audio Design for Mixed Reality Applications” panel hosted by Sennheiser during the Game Developers Conference last week in San Francisco.

The panel featured Jean-Marc Jot, a Distinguished Fellow with Magic Leap, Gio Jacuzzi, a 3D Audio Software Engineer with the Sennheiser AMBEO Team, Jack Daniel Gerrard, the Head of Sound at 1RIC, and Orfeas Boteas, the Founder and CEO of Krotos. The panel was moderated by Oliver Kadel, Co-founder and Audio Lead of 1.618 Digital

The panel discussed the latest tools and the workflow for sound design for mixed reality as well as challenges and innovations that are shaping the future of the immersive audio industry.

 

Sennheiser

For the last 70 years, Sennheiser has been working to shape the future of the audio industry through the establishment and development of trends.

Today, Sennheiser produces the world’s finest headphones, microphones, wireless systems, and broadcast headsets for artists, disc jockeys, scientists, sound technicians, and demanding music-lovers.

The Sennheiser AMBEO Augmented Audio creates a truly immersive and compelling journey, by augmenting what you hear in addition to what you see. This work pushes the boundaries of spatial audio with the mission to create compelling audible AR experiences by blending virtual 3D sound with the real acoustic world.

More about Sennheiser on their website: https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/about-sennheiser-at-a-glance

 

AMBEO 3D Audio  

AMBEO is Sennheiser’s program and trademark for truly immersive 3D audio, designed to create sound experiences with an incredibly high emotional impact. The program will cover products and technologies for the entire audio signal chain, from capture to mixing and processing to reproduction.

AMBEO operates with a height elevation that gives audio back its natural three-dimensional character, creating a totally new experience that is set to change music and sound forever. AMBEO products are consistently developed with an early involvement of users, producers, content providers and technology partners across the globe, creating tools that not only match their demands but also shape the future of audio.

More about AMBEO 3D Audio: https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/microphone-3d-audio-ambeo-vr-mic#static-markdown-8979

 

Game Developers Conference 

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the world’s largest professional game industry event, bringing together 28,000 attendees to exchange ideas and shape the future of the industry with five days of education, inspiration, and networking. Attendees include programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision-makers and others involved in the development of interactive games and immersive experiences.

 

Oliver Kadel – Moderator (Co-Founder /Audio Lead, 1.618 Digital)

Oliver Kadel is an award-winning audio engineer and sound designer based in London. In 2014, Oliver founded the immersive audio production collective 1.618 Digital. Oliver and his team of talented audio architects have produced over 100 immersive projects including branded content, films, music projects, games, immersive installations, experiences and charity work stretching across the globe, in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe. In 2018, Oliver launched the Immersive Audio Podcast which hosts industry experts and influential guests discussing all areas of immersive audio and the XR industry. The podcast has been highly commended as a valuable source of information for industry professionals and continues to grow its audience globally. More recently Oliver took on a new lecturing position, teaching Immersive Audio to Masters students at the University of West London.

1.618 Digital website: https://www.1618digital.com/

 

Jean-Marc Jot (Distinguished Fellow, Magic Leap)

Dr. Jean-Marc Jot joined Magic Leap to start up its audio algorithms team. Prior to this, Jot led DTS audio processing R&D and innovation. He had also led the development of SoundBlaster audio processing algorithms and architectures, including EAX and OpenAL technologies for game 3D audio authoring and rendering. Before relocating to California in the late 90s, he conducted research at IRCAM in Paris, where he designed the Spat software suite for spatial audio creation, performance and virtual reality.

Magic Leap website: https://www.magicleap.com/

 

Gio Jacuzzi (3D Audio Software Engineer, Sennheiser AMBEO)

Gio Jacuzzi is a 3D audio software engineer and experience designer for Sennheiser’s AMBEO innovation team, located in both San Francisco, California and Zurich, Switzerland. His research focuses on the integration of spatial audio technologies with XR applications, and he’s particularly interested in the potential for nonlinear and interactive music experiences in mixed reality. Gio currently leads the development of the AMBEO Lab application for Magic Leap and has contributed to the creation of Sennheiser’s spatial audio software suite and AMBEO AR One earphones.

Information about Sennheiser AMBEO, AR One, and Augmented Audio Lab: http://sennheiser-ambeo.com/arone/

 

Orfeas Boteas (CEO and Founder, Krotos)

Orfeas Boteas is the founder and CEO of Krotos. Krotos develops innovative audio software that fundamentally improves the way sound is made and performed. Their software is used by top studios in award-winning Films, TV, Games, Music, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality applications such as the Avengers, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, Jungle Book, Far Cry, Microsoft Hololens, and Life of Us VR. With years of experience in the entertainment industry, Orfeas holds a BSc in Music Technology and Acoustics including an MSc in Sound Design. Before starting Krotos, he also worked in audio post production and location recording for commercials, documentaries and TV Shows.

Krotos company website: https://www.krotosaudio.com/

 

Jack Daniel Gerrard (Head of Sound, 1RIC Studios)  

Jack Daniel Gerrard is an AR developer and the head of sound for 1RIC Studios. Jack focuses on narrative AR and believes spatial sound to be an even more crucial element to the medium than in traditional film. His work includes original score and sound design for Terminal 3, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2018, and A Jester’s Tale which was called “The best AR experience at Sundance” by The Verge.

1RIC Studio website: https://1ric.com/

 

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Shownotes

More information about Jean-Marc Jot’s work at Magic Leap: https://www.magicleap.com/stories/blog/wearable-3d-audio

Magic Leap One: https://www.magicleap.com/magic-leap-one

Article about Magic Leap’s spatialized audio and soundfield audio: https://magic-leap.reality.news/news/magic-leap-patent-details-spatial-audio-changes-based-users-head-movements-0183507/

More about the differences between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality: https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/02/02/the-difference-between-virtual-reality-augmented-reality-and-mixed-reality/#7289add82d07

AMBEO Smart Headset: https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/finalstop

Krotos’ Dehumaniser: https://www.krotosaudio.com/products/dehumaniser2/

Krotos’ Weaponiser: https://www.krotosaudio.com/products/weaponiser/

More information about Gerrard’s recommended tool, Unity: https://unity3d.com/unity

Information about A Jester’s Tale on Sundance Website: https://www.sundance.org/projects/a-jester-s-tale

Article about A Jester’s Tale on Billboard website: https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8494669/poppy-a-jesters-tale-ar-experience-sundance-2019

 

Credits

This episode was produced by Oliver Kadel and Kaelyn Tindall with help from the Sennheiser team and included music by Knobs Bergamo.

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