IMMERSE YOURSELF VIRTUAL

IMMERSE YOURSELF VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSETS HAVE ALREADY CAPTURED THE IMAGINATION, AND ADVANCES IN AUDIO TECHNOLOGY, WHICH IMMERSE LISTENERS IN A COMPREHENSIVE MULTI-LAYERED SOUNDSCAPE, IS THE NEXT BIG LEAP FORWARD PHOTOGRAPHY: MERIDIAN; GETTY IMAGES 56 THE JAGUAR

NEW TECHNOLOGY Virtual reality (VR) has become a phenomenon, with gamers, moviegoers and interested hobbyists taking to the idea of being immersed in a virtual digital environment. Nearly 100 million of the headsets – from simple Google Cardboard units, which transform a smartphone into a VR headset, to the high-end Oculus Rift – have been sold worldwide in the past year alone, and Facebook are actively developing VR social interaction. Users are enthralled by the idea of sensory experience and stepping into a whole new world while in their own room – and the same effect can be achieved through sound. Immersive audio places listeners in the heart of the action, and has been used in both film and theatre to transplant viewers from their seat into the scene as much as possible. It’s increasingly being used in gaming to fire the imagination and suck players in. “Immersive audio brings to life crucial elements of the virtual world that you’re in, like being at the top of a tall building and hearing the wind blowing around you, or hearing explosions going off right beside you in the middle of a battlefield, which can really get your pulse racing,” says Ryan Hughes, a YouTube gaming star whose videos have been viewed more than 23 million times. “We want to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up,” says John Buchanan, CEO of innovative sound system specialists Meridian Audio. “We want to make you fall in love again with that music you thought you knew. We want to deliver perfect audio reproduction.” It’s why Meridian was founded in 1977, and the company has made it its purpose to constantly adapt, fine-tuning its technology to deliver the most realistic audio reproduction. Meridian’s aim is to make listeners feel like they’re in the middle of the concert hall, the recording studio, or the movie they’re listening to through its speakers and sound systems that are designed and built entirely in the UK. Major film studios and directors have utilised immersive audio for decades, including George Lucas, whose 1971 film THX 1138 was pioneering in its use of sound design, resulting in the immersive THX sound system used in many cinemas today. But like the history of VR tech, immersive audio has – until recently – been quite bulky and immobile. Through constant development, evolution and refinement, Meridian has worked to scale down the size of its hardware and speakers while simultaneously advancing the capabilities of its processing technology to increase the quality of audio output. Their goal is to improve every listener’s enjoyment and depth of appreciation, and bring out elements overlooked by average speaker systems. Whether it’s an emotional wobble in the narrator’s voice as they reach a particularly poignant moment of the audio book, the normally inaudible rustle of a tiny insect moving “High resolution audio delivers clarity, subtlety and depth far beyond anything most people have ever experienced before” through the forest on a nature documentary, or the squeal of the guitar on your favourite track as the musician’s fingers run down the fret, high resolution audio, played through an advanced immersive sound system, can shine new light on sounds you thought you knew all too well. “Immersive sound presents a fantastic opportunity for us to further enhance how people enjoy their favourite music, movies and games. High resolution audio delivers clarity, subtlety and depth that goes far beyond anything most people have ever heard or experienced before,” says Buchanan. “For music, the truly immersive nature and complexity of this technology pulls out a whole new layer of beats, bass and sounds that standard sound systems are incapable of delivering.” For home music and cinema setups, systems can be configured and optimised to adapt to the architecture, location of furniture or even where a listener is sitting. But you don’t have to be sitting at home to enjoy enhanced immersive sound. Even travelling in a car, surrounded by the din of other vehicles and noisy road surfaces, drivers and passengers can still enjoy flawless, best-in-class sound thanks to Meridian’s in-car systems that have been specifically developed and refined for the road. It’s why Meridian and Jaguar are partners – both share the same desire to excite the senses and deliver performance. “We want to ensure the rhythm, timing and punch of the performance breaks through in the car,” says Buchanan. “In this way passengers are always enveloped in sound, providing a much richer audio experience while they travel.” So, whether you’re blasting out your favourite album as you tackle a winding country road, or are easing that monotonous motorway journey with an audio book, thanks to immersive Meridian Audio systems you can be transported emotionally as well as physically. Immersive in-car audio is yet another example of Meridian being at the forefront of innovation, something the company has done for over 40 years. In this time audio has changed immutably - vinyl records have given way to tape cassettes, then CDs, MP3s and now digital streaming. “Throughout these seismic changes, we’ve consistently delivered ground-breaking products and services to ensure the best possible experience for our customers,” says Buchanan. “Looking back, it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come, but we couldn’t be more excited about what’s around the corner.” THE JAGUAR 57