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3D Spatial Audio offers a unique experience that no other medium can provide. It is the key to sensory immersion and a long-lasting deep sense of engagement inside of digital spaces. But, until recently, it required significant resources to achieve in online games and virtual destinations. Now, anyone can create fully realized virtual worlds, thanks to Agora, the only global network dedicated to real-time engagement. Beat out your competition and benefit from the first mover’s advantage with Agora’s 3D Spatial Audio Solutions.
You might have also heard of similar terms like surround sound, and binaural or immersive audio. What all of these have in common is that they enable listeners to experience sound beyond 2D stereo. In 3D, we no longer have to hear sounds in media as coming solely from our left or our right. We can perceive them as coming from any direction. This is not exactly new. Movies and AAA games have been painting on this tapestry for some time. The difference is that, with Agora’s 3D Spatial Audio, creators of online virtual worlds can empower their users to experience digital environments from their own unique perspectives.
The feeling that this generates is one of individual presence, where everyone’s position within the virtual space has meaning. It helps us orient ourselves, and better understand our surroundings. After all, as humans, we are not accustomed to non-spatial hearing. Spatial Audio is how we experience the physical world. It is our default setting.
For games and interactive media creators Spatial Audio is quickly becoming part of the cost of entry for new product development. At a base level, online users expect quality RTC (Real-Time Communication) from beginning to end. And, while it is true that much of this can be accomplished with Agora’s standard low-latency and scalable voice-chat solutions, the user experience benefits afforded by 3D Spatial Audio should not be understated. It is much easier to differentiate words and phrases when 3D audio is enabled. This is because we can focus our attention according to the spatial positioning of each of the voices.
Spatial Audio adds value to any voice RTC use case. In casual audio-conferencing scenarios like work calls and social games, the natural feeling of the conversation helps combat online call fatigue. In high-stakes scenarios like competitive games, it can be the difference between calling the winning shot or throwing the game over a missed communication.
Now, imagine that you could move around. You could approach a conversation and bring it to the forefront of your attention. You could share your thoughts without broadcasting them to everyone in the room, only to the people with whom you are speaking. With Spatial Audio, we are no longer bound by our predetermined positions in virtual environments. We can orient ourselves according to our needs at any moment.
3D Spatial Audio is a cornerstone of RTE (Real-Time Engagement) in virtual worlds, be they online games, massively multi-user simulations, or destinations in the metaverse. Not only can it enable conversations to fade in and out of earshot as users move through the space, atmospheric sounds and music will likewise wax and wane appropriately. Creators who aspire for complete audience immersion will find it crucial to the user experience. To sustain the illusion, everyone and everything must have a sense of place.
Time-to-market is always ticking. If you want to implement Spatial Audio into your application, you need out-of-the-box solutions that scale with your business. Agora is here to help.
With Agora’s 3D Spatial Audio solution, anyone can build superior audio experiences in web and native applications alike. Get in touch and book a call with our team to learn more.
