Ambisonics in the living room ...and how to get it there
Geo Reisinger
Ambisonics as a technology was intended for home listening, recreating an aural experience in a domestic-scale setting. We all know why it didn't arrive in the living-rooms of the 1970s and '80s; but with today's technical biodiversity and digital compatibility, why is it not there today, and how can we speed up its arrival?
This paper looks at a number of aspects of devising a domestic ambisonic playback system from the points of view of a consumer, an interior and industrial designer, an engineer, a technology entrepreneur, and a recording and sound artist. It will present outline approaches, problems, and solutions for a possible commercial design.
Special attention is paid to two aspects: overall user experience, and software decoder complexity in a hardware design.
The task of setting up a complete playback system is daunting even with today's tools and possibilities; what would a simpler, pret-a-porter system look like, what could it do, and who would want and pay for one?
And how can a system that produces its main task in the digital domain stay up-to date, without becoming obsolete in the face of technological progress?
