The demonstration that will take place at CES 2024 is a direct response to the Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, which proposed the possibility to render immersive audio content to any speaker configuration and independent of its position in the room. This is a "can of worms" that Dolby will likely regret to have opened, freeing the consumer electronics industry from the "as intended by..." constrains that were always associated to Dolby formats mixing. And basically this is a concept that the Fraunhofer IIS UpHear algorithms originally enabled for upmixing and enabling immersive audio experiences of content in any application, including for complex speaker configurations in automotive systems.
The combination of WiSA's latest multichannel wireless audio transport over Wi-Fi and Fraunhofer’s upHear Flexible Rendering, integrated by StreamUnlimited onto the Stream1955 streaming audio module, allows a new level of convenience and flexibility for home audio. Basically, by breaking reproduction systems free from the wired constraints that once confined spatial audio to high-end systems in dedicated home theater rooms. "With fundamental technologies such as WiSA E and upHear Flexible Rendering, spatial audio can become conveniently accessible to all consumers,"WiSA Technologies states.
"During Fraunhofer’s 30+ years of experience in audio technology, our mission has always been to develop new and innovative audio algorithms that can bring additional benefits to the market," says Sebastian Meyer, Product Manager Fraunhofer upHear. "With their 70+ member WiSA Association, many of whom are global speaker brands, and their WiSA E wireless multichannel audio transport software, WiSA has the wireless technology to deliver upHear in the market."
Among the benefits that a solution such as upHear Flexible Rendering could provide to consumers is the ability to provides a true 3D sound / immersive / spatial experience from the latest immersive audio formats, independently of the speaker configuration and number of channels. This might not be considered "accurate" or even desirable by any professional in the content industries, but will be welcomed by consumers.
And Fraunhofer's UpHear advanced Upmix algorithms enable immersive playback of legacy audio sources. For example, audio sources encoded to playback as 2.0 or 5.1 can be enjoyed by consumers as immersive audio experience with intelligent adaptation to support random loudspeaker positions in the room.
"For too long, immersive audio has required consumers to place multiple speakers in very specific locations within a room," says Tony Parker, vice president of business development and strategy. "WiSA's high-definition wireless audio transport running Fraunhofer's upHear technology breaks that paradigm and frees consumers to enjoy high-quality immersive audio with fewer speakers located anywhere within a room."
The WiSA, Fraunhofer IIS, and StreamUnlimited demonstration will take place at the WiSA Technologies suite at the Renaissance Hotel. StreamUnlimited is the developer of the industry-proven StreamSDK software and hardware modules for connected audio products. The Austrian engineering services company has provided an integrated WiSA E and upHear Flexible Rendering solution into their StreamKit1955 development platform to run the demonstration at CES.
To schedule an appointment with WiSA for CES 2024, contact Tony Parker, VP of business development and strategy by email.
www.wisatechnologies.com
www.iis.fraunhofer.de
www.streamunlimited.com
