Open-Source Spatial Audio Compression for VR Content

With the advancements of VR environments and 360-degree video, ambisonics have reemerged as an important technique in providing immersive audio experiences. An alternative to channel based 3D sound, ambisonics represent full-sphere sound independent of loudspeaker location. This paper discusses how open-source compression technologies can efficiently transport audio for next-generation immersive media. Two open source codecs, Vorbis and Opus, are compared to AAC for first-order ambisonics. The presented work shows that open and free audio compression is reasonable and promising for delivery of spatial audio content over Internet.

Published

2016-10

Content type

Original Research

Keywords

Spatial audio, 360 video, VR, Ambisonics

DOI

10.5594/M001712

ISBN

978-1-61482-957-7