SoundSketch Auralisation  

We bring to our design work the experience and technical means to put the you in an environment before it is built – to let you hear what a space will sound like before it is built, or even completely designed.  This is also called sound rendering, or "auralisation", after the parallel with graphical visualisation. 

Twenty years ago Essert pioneered the development and application of  physics and psychoacoustics to modelling for the building design process, and has been evolving the technology ever since. 

Recently the SSD team have been
developing greater accuracy and
cost effectiveness and more
streamlined links to design.
We have brought this
experience and
technology to bear on
a variety of projects,
 from concert halls and
theatres to galleries to
offices, outdoor
environments,
 and virtual reality.

visualisation &
auralisation

This image is a visualisation
and auralisation of sound
rays in a rectangular concert
hall, from a source on stage
(green sphere) to a listener in the
middle of the hall (orange sphere).  The
geometry of the sound paths is determined by
the geometry of the space.

The geometry as well as the absorption at the room boundaries, determines the character of the sound at the listener.

Auralisation of sound allows us to listen to the sound of any source in the room.  In the image to the left the source is the green sphere and the listener is the orange sphere.  The lines are the
principal sound reflection paths.

Click on the area around the green sphere to hear the original (anechoic) sound produced by the cello on stage, and then click on the orange sphere to hear the sound as experienced by a listener in the room.

Clicking this image will download two MP3 files (each less than 250Kb) lasting approximately 18 seconds that are playable by all standard media players.