"LISTEN" To AKG

AKG designs revolutionary digital wireless headphones for virtual reality exhibit at the Künst Museum in Bonn, Germany NASHVILLE, TN—AKG Acoustics develops new digital wireless headphones with a function that allows people to hear the effects of their movement in a new virtual reality exhibit. The exhibit called LISTEN uses the headphones to allow visitors to experiment with layers of sound in a virtual environment. Currently on exhibit at the Künst Museum in Bonn, Germany, LISTEN will be displayed at several museums across Europe. At LISTEN, the visitor enters a virtual sonic world. Digital wireless headphones ensure absolute mobility. If the visitor approaches an exhibit they activate the appropriate acoustic information and simulations of moving sound sources. The user can control the level and content of the acoustical information by moving their head, approaching an exhibit or turning away from the exhibit. An interactive control system tracks the user’s position in the room and their head movements to enable them to localize the most diverse sounds at their original positions. To maintain communication with the outside world the system adds an acoustic image of the actual room to the virtual sonic environment. Up to eight people can use the system completely independently and simultaneously. The virtual environment and multi-layered sound demanded a truly unique headphone design. AKG Project Managers Bernd Ruprechter and Christoph Schwald developed digital wireless headphones with a head-tracking function to enable user’s to localize sounds within the room. This head-tracking function was first developed for the "Audimir" space flight, enabling cosmonauts to localize voices in their true without atmospheric pressure. This revolutionary design simulates natural hearing and perspective rather than the inside localization inherent to conventional headphone listening. The radio link uses state-of-the-art circuitry including digital antenna diversity, providing premium quality sound roughly equivalent to that of a pair of audiophile-quality hardwired hi-fi headphones. The IVA (Individual Virtual Acoustics) technique developed by AKG, processes stereo signals to generate a "3D effect" sound, in other words it sounds completely natural as if you’re not wearing headphones. With this technique, the sound signals arrive at one ear earlier than the other and "look" different. All the amplitude and phase shifts required for normal hearing and spatial recognition are processed in space. The result is a system that can be freely configured to process any algorithm for positioning sound sources in space, combined with the best quality headphones currently in the AKG line. An extended version of the system, currently being tested, uses microphones mounted on the outside of each earphone that provides ambient sound to orient the user with the outside environment. The headphones automatically add the microphone signals to the signals received by the wireless transmitter to allow users to communicate with others in the room and share the virtual experience. However, this version is not being used at the Künst Museum. The "LISTEN" exhibit gives users a glimpse into the incredible sound experiences, advanced digital audio and wireless technology of the future. It is only a matter of time before this technology becomes inexpensive enough to be used in consumer products. This project also increases the level of communication between man and machine, forcing users to develop new methods of interface. These methods of communication will become increasingly important in this high-tech world. The basic system will be first installed at the Künst Museum in Bonn, Germany. For more information on the exhibit or technology go to the AKG website at www.akg.com or check out these links www.kunstmuseum.de and www.listen.de.