3D Sound for Virtual Reality and Multimedia [Hardcover]

Durand R. Begault (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 1994

One of the key underlying technologies of immersive virtual reality (VR) is 3-D sound for computers. While many recent books have provided overviews of VR, this is the first introduction to 3-D sound theory and applications aimed at the commercial engineer. It will provide the reader with an understanding of the communication chain between source and listener, and of how important issues in psychoacoustics and engineering interact.
"Anyone interested in synthesizing auditory spatial experience - whether for a multimedia, virtual reality, or other related application - will find this book a valuable resource...Durand Begault is arguably one of the most knowledgeable sources of reliable information on the subject. And his book, 3D Sound for Virtual Reality and Multimedia, attests to that fact."
--MIX Magazine


* The book covers: Components of spatial auditory displays Psychoacoustics of spatial hearing What sounds are appropriate to spatialize Applications to human-machine interfaces (including virtual reality and multimedia} computer music, and room acoustics Future directions Written by an author with expertise in both theory and applications, this book will provide readers with one key facet of an essential technical foundation in virtual reality.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 293 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press (October 7, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0120847353
• ISBN-13: 978-0120847358
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,671,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Software Engineering > Multimedia Information Systems

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Aging and highly technical treatise on 3-D sound, February 7, 2006

By 

calvinnme - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This publication deals with the human factors and signal processing aspects of audio in 3-D systems. It is divided into six chapters:

1. Virtual Auditory Space: Context, Acoustics, and Psychoacoustics

2. Overview of Spatial Hearing Part 1: Azimuth and Elevation Perception

3. Overview of Spatial Hearing Part 2: Sound Source Distance and Environmental Context

4. Implementing 3-D Sound Systems, Sources, and Signal Processing

5. Virtual Acoustic Applications

6. Resources

Chapters one through four are the most useful as they present details of psychoacoustics, physical acoustics, and signal processing with plenty of instructive diagrams and equations when necessary. Chapters 5 and 6 on applications and resources are the least useful since they focus on these subjects from the perspective of 1994, which might as well be a century ago given the progress made in computing platforms. This publication is still useful since most texts in print on audio today focus on Windows-centric plug-in solutions for games where there are little technical details about the physics of the situation because the targeted reader is a high school or college student writing game programs in their basements. If you think this rather academic tome is for you, it is now available free on the web. Since Amazon tends to throw out reviews with web addresses in them, suffice it to say if you type in "3-D sound for virtual reality and multimedia" in quotations as I show it here into Google, the first web address you see should be the on-line version of this book.

The reader should already be familiar with digital signal processing in order to get the most out of this publication. If you are planning on doing the "big picture" design of a 3-D audio application, this old publication is essential reading.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is definitely the best book available on 3D audio, September 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 3D Sound for Virtual Reality and Multimedia (Hardcover)

I'm pretty sure that it is also the only book presently available. It IS fairly well written, and if you are writing a sound engine for a game, or a similar application, I would strongly recommend this book. On the other hand, parts of it are extremely technical, so if you do not know if you can follow it, you may wish to keep looking.