In 2020, Sony released Playstation 5, which is the fifth model of the well known Playstation series, mainly oriented for gaming purposes. In this particular model, Sony developed an engine which supports 3D Audio technology known as “Tempest 3D AudioTech”, which is something that many gaming enthusiasts around the world desired. So why is this technology important and how does it enhance the gaming experience?
First, what is 3D Audio? According to Davies (2022), 3D Audio is “..an umbrella term for a number of immersive audio technologies that aim to surround the listener with sound. The goal is to reproduce audio in a way that replicates the way we hear sound in the real world, especially when compared to the mono and stereo experiences most have become accustomed to. The result goes beyond what a ‘physical’ 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound setup can achieve, as 3D Audio can make sounds come through virtually every direction, including above.”
Therefore, this technology is highly important for a gaming console like PS5, as the directionality of different sounds becomes more precise and realistic, assisting the gamer to locate on or offscreen enemy’s footsteps or movements of military trucks inside a virtual battlefield, for example.
Sony’s 3D Audio Technology was developed to work with different output systems, including TV Speakers, headphones, stereo, 5.1, and 7.1. The whole 3D Audio system is based around HTRF (Head-Related Transfer Functions), which “describes an acoustic transfer function between a point sound source in the free-field and a defined position in the listener’s ear canal, and plays an essential role in creating immersive virtual acoustic environments (VAEs) reproduced over headphones or loudspeakers.” (Li et al. 2020). Since each individual person has a unique HRTF as we anatomically differ from one another, Sony conducted an immerse study to measure individual people’s HRFT and created five individual options from which the user can select when setting up 3D Audio on a PS5 console.
To be specific, the user can accurately measure the acoustics of their room by following the instructions in the PS5 console. “This is a process where the console sends out a string of sounds at different volumes to gauge how big a room is for the simulated surround sound.” (McLoughlin, 2023). This process can be also undertaken with headphones, in which the user can test different sounds by moving them from left to right, and then compare the standard stereo output with the 3D Audio output.
Overall, Sony’s 3D Audio Technology is a very significant development in the world of Spatial Audio, as through its implementation the gaming experience is highly improved. Sound localization plays a crucial role in the overall quality of a modern game, as it makes a game more realistic and portrays the visual aspects more accurately (which have rapidly improved in the last decades too). Many companies like Sony continue to develop and improve similar systems through the study of more HRTF. In the future, the settings can become even more accurate as more people will be investigated, and as a result the gaming experience will be further improved.
Total words: 513
Name: Konstantinos Papanestoros
Date of Publication: 21 February 2024
Blog entry No. 02, as part of the Blog assessment of the Module “Spatial Audio Production” (MATT3017) of De Montfort University, Leicester.
Bibliography:
Davies, H. (2022) What is 3D audio? the immersive audio feature explained, Trusted Reviews. Available at: https://www.trustedreviews.com/explainer/what-is-3d-audio-4220209 (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
How to set up 3D audio on PS5 consoles (no date) How to set up 3D audio on PS5 consoles (UK). Available at: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/support/hardware/3d-audio-ps5/ (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Li, S. and Peissig, J. (2020) Measurement of head-related transfer functions: A Review, MDPI. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/14/5014#:~:text=A%20head%2Drelated%20transfer%20function,reproduced%20over%20headphones%20or%20loudspeakers. (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
McLoughlin, A. (2023) PS5 3D audio explained: How this technology brings games to life, TechRadar. Available at: https://www.techradar.com/features/ps5-3d-audio-explained-how-this-technology-brings-games-to-life (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Wykes, A.J. (2021) Sony PlayStation 5: What is 3D audio?, SoundGuys. Available at: https://www.soundguys.com/sony-playstation-5-3d-audio-49201/# (Accessed: 19 February 2024).
Konstantinos Papanestoros 