Spatial sounds are a more advanced version of surround sound. Surround sound is where there are multiple (between 2 and 7) that are either laid out in a room (such as living room or cinema theatre) or within a headset. The limitations of surround sound is that the sound from the speakers can only be level with the subject’s ears. It creates the hearing illusion that a helicopter is going overhead because the sound begins loud in the speaker behind the subject and “travels” to the front speaker but the sound never truly goes over the person’s head, just from behind to in front.
Spatial sounds claim to be full 360 degrees around the subject’s head. This method would allow gaming and films to be more immersive and engaging for the audience because they will hear what is going on around them, not just what’s happening in the game or film. With this audio technique, they will fell as though they are within the media, not just observing it.
With Spacial Sounds and Virtual Reality, together, it could mean that gamers and film watchers could end up being fully immersed in the world that they are “living” in. This combination could end up being the final piece in the puzzle for allowing humans to actually live in virtual worlds in the future.
Created in the 1970s, Ambisonic were invented for full 360 degree audio. This Ambisonic sound does create 3 dimensional sounds but it is mainly used to pinpoint the exact location a sound is coming from. This is why it has not been used for things like VR gaming and 360 degree videos.
Pretty much the same misunderstanding is widespread when it comes to Ambisonic. Ambisonic is a system developed in the 60s / 70s. Today it is mostly a delivery format to be able to decode a specific location of a sound into a wide range of speaker setups, one being binaural for headphones. That means there is no need to have native Ambisonic recordings to deliver audio in Ambisonic format for VR or 360° videos to create a 3D environment. Not at all!
(Why we don’t use Ambisonic Microphones – even for VR | BOOM Library, 2019)
References
Manion, T., 2017. Windows 10 Tip: Make Your Movies And Games Sound Better With Windows Sonic | Windows Experience Blog. [online] Windows Experience Blog. Available at: <https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/11/13/windows-10-tip-make-movies-games-sound-better-windows-sonic/> [Accessed 5 May 2020].
waves.com. 2017. Ambisonics Explained: A Guide For Sound Engineers | Waves. [online] Available at: <https://www.waves.com/ambisonics-explained-guide-for-sound-engineers> [Accessed 5 May 2020].
BOOM Library. 2019. Why We Don’T Use Ambisonic Microphones – Even For VR | BOOM Library. [online] Available at: <https://www.boomlibrary.com/blog/why-we-dont-use-ambisonic-microphones-even-for-vr/> [Accessed 5 May 2020].
Immersive and Sensory Design 