Surround Sound Technology
Ware created a 3D surround sound auditorium for the National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield - a museum of contemporary music and culture, launched with £15 million of National Lottery money, which opened in March 1999 and closed in July 2000. BBC News described the centre as having been "shunned" by visitors, and, despite a £2 million relaunch, the Centre closed. Despite this, Ware later used the surround sound technology to launch an Arts Council subsidised touring project called "The Future of Sound".
Ware’s 3D music has also been used in an unusual noise suppression experiment undertaken in Brighton in 2011 on behalf of the Noise Abatement Society (NAS).
During this experiment, which was an entry for the John Cornell Technology Award, a six-point sound field was created using ethereal sound textures. This was played in the main shopping street in the city, West Street, with the intention of distracting people from the traffic noise.
In the meantime, film made of the street during the time the sound was being produced was analysed by the psychobiologist Harry Witchel to assess whether the ambient sound made any difference to their behaviour.
Early results suggested that it did have a beneficial effect for the public both during the day and anecdotal evidence suggested it served as a calming influence during the “clubbers rush” in the evening. Suggestions have been made that the experiment could be rolled out more widely in the future.
He is a Visiting Professor at Queen Mary College, University of London, a member of BAFTA, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a founder of 5D – the future of immersive design. He has also just received an Honorary Doctorate in Science from University of London.
Read more about this topic: Martyn Ware
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