Nothing quite beats the theater for a moviegoing experience, does it? Provided there isn’t some sugar-tripping eight your hold delightfully kicking your chair, the theater can provide a thoroughly immersive experience, allowing you to lose yourself in the fields of sights and sounds. The sound you get in a theater is simply in a league of its own, giving you an a sense of distance and direction for everything happening onscreen. Good sound design can make you feel like you’re in the experience, rather than just watching it.
So my question is, why aren’t we using this kind of sound in video games?
Well, the obvious answer to that question would be ‘because it’s impossible’, and I can see why. Looking for theater quality sound, what with large number of high quality speakers enveloping you in a cornucopia of sound? It’s that feeling of being surrounded by sound that provides this level of immersion. But now self-respecting gamemaker could ever assume that a user has a full surround sound setup, so sound design is accordingly limited.
But who needs a full surround sound system, when you have Binaural sound? Pop in any old headphones(it has to be headphones) and take a listen to the video below.
Do you notice how you were able to track the distance and direction of the sounds in question? This is an impressive feat, seeing as there are only two sources of sounds, rather than a full array of surround sound speakers.
This technology is taking advantage of how your ears and brain process sound in the first place. Your brain is able to determine the distance and direction of sound due to subtle timing differences between the sound hitting one ear and the sound hitting your other. Such as, if it hits your left ear before it hits your right, then the sound is coming from your left.
By taking advantage of this fact, and timing the outputs to each side of your headphones accordingly, sound designers are able to create a sense of direction and distance, simply by using your brain’s natural processes. No special equipment needed, just your standard set of budget headphones will do.
Don’t believe that this could be used for games? Well check out the technology being brought forth by AstoundSound, who managed to do just that with Doom 3.
Pretty cool, eh?
If games were to take advantage of this, we could be entering a whole new world of sound. And if movies are any indication, sound could go a long way to increasing your sense of immersion. With graphics quickly reaching a bottleneck, sound seems like the next natural step to get the attention of console manufacturers.
So if this technology exists, why hasn’t it been adopted already?
Well, simply because so far, it requires headphones to work, which doesn’t appeal to the console crowd quite as much. Headphones are needed because they are the only sound device that remains equal distances from both ears at all times. When we’re talking about subtle differences in the timing of sound waves, even a few inches off center could break the system entirely. This is why speakers, which can vary in position across the room, simply wont work.
Now, this isn’t to say we’ll never see this technology on consoles. With enough effort, anything is possible. Think of Microsoft’s Kinect device(even if you’d rather forget about it). Can you see the possibility of it tracking your position in the room relative to the connected speakers, and adjusting the sound accordingly? I certainly can.
I honestly believe that console manufactures should begin to view audio as a key component to their gaming system. With enough effort put into development, Binaural sounds could provide us the crucial next step in immersive experiences.
