Making VR a Reality at Solent

The Media Technology Programme has recently transformed one of their 5.1 mixing studios into a Virtual Reality (VR) lab. This allows us to explore the emerging fields of virtual, augmented and mixed reality in a practical and meaningful way with undergraduate and post-graduate students.

The project has attracted the attention of one of the suppliers Synthax who has featured the installation on their website. Within the article, Senior Lecturer Andrew Horsburgh explains:

“Here at Solent we're always looking to work with the latest technology – either in video or sound. In recent years the two have aligned, using virtual reality (VR) and high dynamic range visuals with Dolby Atmos, and we've recently built a new laboratory to help our students get a grasp of what's possible today in VR.”

Synthax were able to help by providing synchronised multichannel outputs beyond the usual channel counts found within even ‘surround sound’ studios. This is essential for use with immersive spatial audio:

“Previously we had two 5.1 rooms that catered for the surround sound aspect, but nothing that really tied into the larger channel counts and independent listening arrays that our research projects require."

“The choice of a Ferrofish was easily made, because of the high sample rates, the MADI interface, front-panel metering, and internal mixer. Going beyond eight analogue outputs that can be fed a clocked signal and have their outputs controlled as a group is absolutely essential. The Ferrofish gives us complete control over our inputs and outputs with ease.”

The full article is available via the following link:

Synthax UK, 2017. Ferrofish in use for Spatial Audio and VR technologies at Southampton Solent University [online] [accessed 26/09/17]. Available: http://www.synthax.co.uk/latest/2017/07/27/ferrofish-spatial-audio-vr-southampton-solent-university/