Taking place from 18–20 July at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK, the Audio Engineering Society International Conference on Sound Field Control will focus on the understanding of the active management of audio delivered within an acoustical environment.
Over 30 papers will be presented on topics ranging from sound zones through higher-order ambisonics, mode matching and psychoacoustics, to sound field control theories, microphone arrays and transducer arrays . Sponsors of the conference so far include Comhear, Harman, mh acoustics and Hyundai.
Encouraging the world research community to attend the event, conference co-chair Filippo Fazi says, “The three-day conference program incorporates keynote lectures from renowned experts, research talks, themed workshop panel discussions, poster presentations and demonstrations. It will focus on the dissemination of technical solutions and recommended practices, which will stimulate new ideas for potential commercial applications of sound field control.”
Conference co-chair Philip Jackson explains, “We’ll have a keynote from professor Philip Nelson giving a brief history of sound field control. Dr. Gary Elko is going to explain the remarkable properties of differential microphone arrays, and professor Steven van de Par will go into the psychoacoustics of reverberation. There’s one of these excellent talks on each of the three days of the conference. We also have an exciting invited talk by Bruce Drinkwater titled ‘Ultrasonic manipulation – tweezers and tractor beams.’”
Phil Coleman and Jordan Cheer have put together a fascinating program of workshops and demonstrations. A workshop on the first day goes into creative applications of sound field control, while another on the third day deals with linking sound field capture to sound field reproduction. Demonstrations include personal sound zones, 3D audio capture, adaptive object-based stereo reproduction and ultrasonic levitation, among other engaging listening opportunities.
Guildford is just 35 minutes by train from London. It’s close to Heathrow and Gatwick international airports and right by the main A3 road from London to Portsmouth. Accommodation is available at a reasonable price in campus rooms, subject to availability, or there are good off-site hotels.
The first Sound Field Control conference, held three years ago, included delegates from around the world discovering the latest trends in active sound field management. The 2016 event promises to build on that, in order to offer a valuable learning experience for those attending. Above all the conference will be an important networking opportunity for anyone who works, studies or teaches in this fast-growing field.
For further information and to register, click the link below.