VIRTUAL AUDIO REPRODUCTION ENGINE FOR SPATIAL ENVIRONMENTS

Topic of this paper is an interactive sound reproduction system to create virtual sonic environments and visual spaces, called Virtual Audio Reproduction Engine for Spatial En- vironments (VARESE). Using VARESE, Edgard Varèse's Poème électroniquewas recreated within a virtual Philips Pavilion. The system draws on binaural sound reproduc- tion principles including spatialization techniques based on the Ambisonics theory. Using headphones and a head tracker, listeners can enjoy a preset reproduction of the Poème électronique as they freely move through the vir- tual architectural space. While VARESE was developed specifically for its use in reconstructing Poemè électron- ique, it is flexible enough to function as a standard in- terpreter of sounds and visual objects, enabling users to design their own spatializations.