Martin Audio helps researchers at the University of Campania experiment with immersive audio

The lab at the university's Aversa campus is exploring the relationship between temperature, audio and images.

The University of Campania 'Luigi Vanvitelli' of Naples is turning to a unique use of immersive audio technology with one of its new physics research laboratories.

The lab at the university's Aversa Campus is exploring the relationship between temperature, audio and images, and to do this in a scientific way researchers require a space where each element can be controlled precisely.

To achieve this control from an audio point of view, the researchers turned to Sound Adventures of Martin Audio.

The new laboratory has been purpose-built as a small dedicated space within a historic building. The radiant heating panels on the walls and floor and the air conditioning system allow the room temperature to be raised or lowered, while the intelligent lighting system allows the management of this element.

S's solutionound Adventures that controls the sound environment resulted in the installation of 26 two-way passive speakers Martin Audio ADORN A55 and a couple of subwoofers SX110, all controlled by the Premium Astro Spatial Audio SARA II rendering engine.

The managing director of Astro Spatial Audio, Bjorn Van Munster, comments that “the university was specifically looking for a high-end solution based on wavefield synthesis that could offer natural characteristics such as in-depth experience, making SARA II the obvious choice.”

“The A55's wide, uniform dispersion across the frequency range was one of the main reasons for selecting these cabinets,” he adds.

With the components selected, designing the solution became the next part of the project. “One of the main initial challenges was creating the right speaker layout in such a small space,” Van Munster recalls. “We also had to provide a level of flexibility with the system that would allow researchers to test different elements in the future that had not yet been thought of.”

The resulting system design consists of two ADORN wall layers mounted around the room as well as four installed in the ceiling to provide the ceiling channels. Low frequencies are served through the two floor-mounted SX110s on either side of the room.

New applications

Reflecting on this innovative use of technology, Van Munster is pleased to have found a new vertical for Sound Adventures. "The work we have done with researchers in the past has focused purely on music studies, so the fact that Sound Adventures is being used in a different environment like this is very interesting. I am happy with the result and the system sounds great. However, in this case we have just provided the toolkit, it will depend on how the researchers use the system and the progress they make, which will determine whether the project has been a success," he says.

The CEO of Martin Audio, Dom Harter, underlines that "research plays a vital role in everything we do at Martin Audio, so it's nice to see someone else using our products as the tools to help develop their research. The A55s were the perfect choice for this project as their compact footprint and first-class sound quality met the physical and research needs of the laboratory. Being part of a unique scientific project like this is a real compliment to the capabilities of Sound Adventures, I'm sure the system will help researchers expand what they can do." “We understand the relationships between temperature, audio and images.”