Paris, France – May 3, 2023 – World-renowned IRCAM Research Centre and its partners Amadeus, HOLOPHONIX, and VRTUOZ are paving the way to a new concept for the production and dissemination of live performances with sound enhancements: a Continuum between real and virtual stages, between artists and spectators, viewers, and listeners – and between French technological innovation and cultural productions with innovative formats.
This ambitious 1.2 million Euro research project is set to continue through Q4 2025.
“With more than 40 years of experience in research on sound spatialization for artistic creation, the realization of Continuum is made possible thanks to the support of the France 2030 program. The France 2030 program offers IRCAM the opportunity to set a new standard in terms of the quality and use of immersive sound rendering for live performances; and an opportunity to experiment with it in the context of large-scale artistic productions. The participation of the companies, Amadeus and VRTUOZ, contributes to their democratization for theatrical broadcasting and for individual experiences based on virtual reality devices,” stated Hugues Vinet, Director of Innovation and Research Means at IRCAM.
The Continuum research program aims to develop a comprehensive production chain, from capture to final playback, to create and transmit augmented spatial content to spectators in both a range of shared spaces (theaters, cinemas, public or private spaces) and in individual listening situations in virtual reality or binaural rendering with headphones.
“This project is an extension and reinforcement of our historical partnership with IRCAM,” adds Gaëtan Byk, CEO at Amadeus and Founder of HOLOPHONIX. “We have been working for a long time to design and make available technological tools, mainly intended for creative artists and participants in the performing arts, to compose space, to create immersive experiences, and to maximize the coherence between sound and visual images in performance venues, to improve the localization of musicians, actors, and singers on stage, and to create virtual acoustic spaces, among other concepts.
Many technological innovations are being designed, including among many others:
- A software solution for modeling room acoustic impulse response at high resolution, using Ambisonics microphones.
- A software solution to convert higher-order Ambisonics signals to binaural.
- A hybrid reverb engine, combining convolution reverb based on 3D Ambisonics impulse responses and synthetic reverb structure to create artificial late reverberation.
- An active (regenerative) acoustic enhancement system to expand the acoustical properties of performing arts venues.
- A graphical sequencer for digital art creation.
- A new range of loudspeakers adapted to spatial sound reinforcement based on linear arrays of speakers.
All of the software innovations will be available in the HOLOPHONIX environment.
The ‘Continuum’ technological advances will also be tested and presented to the public through a series of artistic productions.
This includes the recreation of a virtual acoustic space for the Royaumont Cistercian Abbey – which was destroyed during the French Revolution – in the open air, as part of a commissioned installation by Francesco Filidei, composer and organist.
Most of these artistic productions will be available by remote access using virtual reality through the VRTUOZ platform
“VRTUOZ has the ambition of making immersive content more attractive by focusing on quality and accessibility. The platform works by integrating technologies developed by excellent partners and focuses on curating content and designing a user path that is as simple and intuitive as possible. The Continuum project, in collaboration with IRCAM and Amadeus, will allow our future users, gathered remotely for an event, to share an unparalleled sound experience in terms of dynamism and spatialization,” concludes Gildas Dussauze, president at VRTUOZ.
About the ‘Continuum’ Project Partners:
About HOLOPHONIX
HOLOPHONIX develops an extremely advanced real-time immersive audio environment, perfectly optimized for the performing arts field. Created by Gaetan Byk in coordination with IRCAM and CNRS research institutes, HOLOPHONIX offers a global solution including software, plugins, hardware processors, electronic devices, and loudspeakers, adapted by many world-renowned cultural institutions. Visit: www.holophonix.xyz
About Amadeus
For more than thirty years, Amadeus has designed, manufactured, and marketed a wide range of products for the diffusion, processing, and spatialization of sound, combining high technology, elegance, and emotion.
Founded in 1992, Amadeus has become an indisputable reference for live performance professionals. With close ties to the largest national and international musical, theatrical, and scientific institutions, Amadeus counts among its historical French clients the Théâtre National de Chaillot, the Festival d’Avignon, the Opéra de Lyon, and the Philharmonie de Paris, among others. The development and manufacturing of the products have always been carried out at Amadeus’ premises, based in France, visit: www.amadeuslab.com
About VRTUOZ
VRTUOZ is an open metaverse dedicated to cultural venues, entertainment producers, and artists. It offers several types of virtual spaces backed by a ticketing service: virtual stages to host immersive works and virtual showrooms to exhibit NFTs. VRTUOZ provides cultural actors with a distribution platform to host, distribute, and monetize all types of original digital artistic content in a 3D spatialized environment, accessible remotely and without technological constraints. The platform makes it possible to generate a new source of revenue linked to the exploitation of digital content with a wider audience (younger, less downtown, more international). In terms of use, the VRTUOZ platform is simple and intuitive, accessible on any type of equipment (with or without a VR headset, on PC, and soon on mobile and iOS) via an application, with free access or by purchasing a ticket. It allows its users to access inaccessible sites and to (re)live and share immersive experiences with friends, within a community. VRTUOZ accompanies the digitalization of places from the design of their virtual space to the constitution of their catalog of augmented works. From a personalized space (digital twin), the venue will be able to autonomously host content and extend its activities to a more captive remote audience. Visit: www.vrtuoz.com
About IRCAM
IRCAM, the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music directed by Frank Madlener, is one of the world’s largest public research centers dedicated to both musical expression and scientific research. This unique location where artistic sensibilities collide with scientific and technological innovation brings together over 160 collaborators. IRCAM’s three principal activities — creation, research, transmission — are visible in IRCAM’s Parisian concert season, in productions throughout France and abroad, and in an annual rendezvous, ManiFeste, that combines an international festival with a multidisciplinary academy. Founded by Pierre Boulez, IRCAM is associated with the Centre Pompidou, under the tutelage of the French Ministry of Culture. The mixed STMS research lab (Sciences and Technologies for Music and Sound), housed by IRCAM, also benefits from the support of the CNRS and Sorbonne University. In 2020, IRCAM created Ircam Amplify, a spin-off for the commercialization of the institute’s audio innovations. A true interface between state-of-the-art of audio research and the industrial world on a global scale, Ircam Amplify is a major actor in the sound revolution of the 21st century. Visit: www.ircam.fr
Amadeus and HOLOPHONIX are registered trademarks of Amadeus France. All rights reserved. All other registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
