With all of Google’s great progress in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), all that’s really lacking is some good audio to go with it. Humans process a lot of data through sound – we use it to guide us through whatever environment we’re in, as sound produces a fuller picture of where we are. The problem in mobile technology is that the hardware for good spatial audio is usually lacking.
Spatial audio – as in, audio that comes from different directions and with different volumes and reverb, but is still high definition – is pretty difficult to achieve on most platforms, let alone on mobile ones. On a smartphone, not a lot of resources are allocated for audio. So Google is launching a new software development kit (SDK) called Resonance Audio.
Resonance Audio basically allows you to create rich spatial audio in high definition that can be used for games and AR or VR content – audio that can be handled by most audio chips in smartphones today. Resonance Audio uses highly optimized digital signal processing algorithms based on higher order Ambisonics to spatialize hundreds of simultaneous 3D sound sources – so you can have spatial audio on AR and VR content, and even in games, without taxing your smartphone’s processor too much.
The Resonance Audio SDK is now available for multiple platforms – for web, for Wwise, even for Unity and Unreal Engine. There are even Resonance Audio plugins for your favorite digital audio workstation software. Check out the Resonance Audio Github page for downloads.
SOURCE: Google
