Greetings Everyone, This post is, in part, a response to Michael Dunn's post, "Ambisonics - short intro article" (Sursound Digest, Vol 63, Issue 1). I read the article and followed the link to the TI Sensing Design Challenge 2013. The Design Challenge is finding creative uses for Texas Instrument's LDC1000 inductive sensor.
I've always been interested in sensor technology, so I started thinking of ways to use the LDC1000 along side an Ambisonic mic. Not much luck (yet), but the thought of combining an Ambisonic mic with a direction sensor occurred to me. One of the most ubiquitous direction sensors is the electronic compass sensor used in automobiles. If the output of such a device could generate a tone based on direction (which, in fact, would be easy to realize), the audio output of the compass could be recorded on a fifth analog channel (or S/PDIF input). With this, absolute direction (re Earth's magnetic north) versus relative direction can be ascertained. The usefulness may not be obvious. One application would be forensics. If someone is trying to determine direction of a sound source after post processing, this could be useful. But my initial thoughts were a bit loftier, as I will explain... I enjoy nature photography and recording sounds in nature. If I were to replay the sounds through a periphonic system, the listener would get a sense of the relative sound-source directions. But who's to say that absolute sound-source direction isn't important, at least to certain other species? As I learned from watching The Big Bang Theory, the dung beetle uses light from the Milky Way for guidance. Other critters likely rely on the magnetic poles, the sun's direction, etc. (sorry, I'm not a biologist). The point here is that it's possible that some species may make sounds that are direction-specific. To accurately study such a phenomenon (if it exists), it would be more "realistic" if the playback provided absolute direction (i.e., light, shadows, stars, the moon would be in "alignment" with the sounds, or visa versa). As for humans, it's probably too subtle of a parameter to matter, but this may not be so for animal subjects subjected to surround sound. (Our subconscious may detect such nuances.) Perhaps this is an absurd thought... but not as absurd as believing the world is round. Ciao, Eric C. Eric L. Carmichel Cochlear Concepts, LCC -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://mail.music.vt.edu/mailman/private/sursound/attachments/20131005/9aa423cd/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ Sursound mailing list Sursound@music.vt.edu https://mail.music.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sursound
