Roundhead

A groundbreaking mixed reality volumetric audio experience.

MagicBeans, along with partners Warner Music and the Applied Psychoacoustic Labs at Huddersfield University are creating new kinds of audio-led mixed reality experience that place highly realistic 3D audio into real world environments.   

We use innovative acoustic modelling, machine-vision tracking and new volumetric synthesis techniques to map sounds to real physical spaces and objects. This means that complex volumetric audio is synthesised in real time to appear to the listener as if the audio were actually coming from the space they are in and from the physical objects within it – opening up possibilities for next-gen music experiences, audio tours and new kinds of audiovisual display.

Roundhead is the volumetric audio platform we are building that allows anyone to easily create and distribute this new kind of 6DOF audio. The SXSW demo will publicly showcase Roundhead for the first time, and will allow any user with access to a smartphone or laptop to experience this amazing new 6DOF volumetric audio on their devices at home.

Roundhead can also be deployed by professional users for large-scale multi-user location-based audio experiences.

We are looking to fundamentally change the ways in which augmented reality audio can be applied to the real world.

Our project demonstrates the significant improvements we have been making to the acoustic models and to the application of audio-led experiences, using a selection of music/immersive-theatre/meditation experiences which unfold around the user through sound attached to objects and real spaces.