by Mat Dirjish

Sony Electronics is offering what it says is the world’s first real-time, live-distribution technology with full object-based spatial sound. This expands the company’s range of its  360 Reality Audio immersive music experience, enabling real-time distribution of three-dimensional sound and video. Essentially, users can experience the reality of a live performance without being there.

Sony’s 360 Reality Audio employs a real-time encoder that provides both real-time performance and sound quality for artists and sound engineers. In order to create a spatial music experience, sound engineers first assign position information to each sound source such as vocals, guitars, and drums, and arrange them in a spherical space. The latest 360 Reality Audio production tool allows engineers to place sound sources freely and instantly while creating a three-dimensional effect.

Additionally, sending music to the server requires compression of the audio data including location information once. However, a certain amount of processing time is necessary to maintain high sound quality, creating a lag in delivery. Sony’s sound quality processing algorithm eliminates the lag time to achieve real-time performance.

As 360 Reality Audio is an object-based spatial audio technology, it automatically optimizes the amount of information (bit rate) set for each sound source (object) without reducing auditory quality. It enables real-time distribution synchronized with video by compressing audio data for a short period of time.

Free for the first 10,000 attendees, the first live event in real time, 40 Dai-Wa-Iroir by the artist Hikaru Utada is set for January 19, 2023. Attendees need the 360 Reality Audio Live application and headphones to participate. Visit the 40 Dai-Wa-Iroiro website for details. For even more info, visit the 360 Reality Audio Live website.

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