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| Untitled (Jan 2), 2018 Unity designed virtual landscape, custom ambisonic sonic spatialisation Dimensions variable Screen-grab 01 (2018) |
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| Untitled (Jan 2), 2018 Unity designed virtual landscape, custom ambisonic sonic spatialisation Dimensions variable Screen-grab 02 (2018) |
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| Untitled (Jan 2), 2018 Unity designed virtual landscape, custom ambisonic sonic spatialisation Dimensions variable Screen-grab 03 (2018) |
Untitled (Jan 2) is a collaborative digital artwork created by Auckland artist Sam Longmore, and Wellington audio programmer Chris Wratt.
Viewers of the work wander within a barren landscape populated with a series austere structures. In this space, most sound and image has been stripped away leaving only those of footsteps sounding over a non-distinct, synthesised ambience. Through the subtraction of stimulus, Untitled (Jan 2) draws the listener's attention to changes in room reverberation – the way sounds sound as they interact with enclosed spaces.
With each footfall, viewers are given a sonic hint as to the scale and shape of the space they have found themselves in, with the behaviour of the binaurally spatialised sounds shifting in relation to their movements. This reverberation is calculated using a mixture of higher order ambisonics and impulse response convolution in order to create as realistic an audio experience possible.
The work was created using the popular cross-platform game engine, Unity, however it was conceived as ‘media art’ for a gallery setting, and is best approached an immersive digital environment rather than as a ‘game’. There are no goals. It is simply about exploring the acoustics of the sparse virtual environment.
It is recommended that viewers explore the landscape for ~10 minutes. High quality headphones are encouraged.
It is recommended that viewers explore the landscape for ~10 minutes. High quality headphones are encouraged.
WASD to move
Mouse to look
The work premiered the exhibition, 'Experimental Approaches to Sound in Virtual Space', at Auckland's Audio Foundation gallery on March the 8th, 2018. It was later presented at the GDC Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Centre, San Fransisco. The GDC is the world's largest professional game industry event with >25,000 attendees.