06/07/2026
We had a fantastic time at the Audio Engineering Society International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive Games (AVARIG) that took place at Sorbonne University and IRCAM in Paris. We were proud to support the event as a Gold Sponsor.
At the conference, we announced and demonstrated VIRTUOSO XR, our new software that extends the highly acclaimed VIRTUOSO binaural renderer into a fully interactive 6DoF immersive audio platform. VIRTUOSO XR enables virtual walk-through listening experiences, powerful 3D spatialisation, panning, and acoustic simulation, making it suitable for location-based AR/VR, sound installations, sound design, music production/composition, and other immersive media applications. A public beta will become available soon — sign up to receive updates and be among the first to access it (The link is in the reply).
Our AR demo used a Meta Quest 3 connected to VIRTUOSO XR via OSC messages, allowing visitors to experience interactive virtual immersive audio in 6DoF. We were delighted to receive highly positive feedback from attendees, including representatives from major technology companies, who commented on the naturalness and realism of the listening experience, as well as the way VIRTUOSO XR maintains authentic tonal quality while delivering convincing acoustic realism.
We also demonstrated the latest version of VIRTUOSO v2, which received excellent feedback for its natural sound quality and highly customisable features.
It was also a great conference for our research group, with three papers presented by our research students.
• Needlets for Spatial Audio: Objective Evaluations — Şafak Ekmen and Hyunkook Lee
• Rendering 6DoF Audio in Augmented Reality: Perceptual Evaluation of Game Engines, Plugins, and Middleware — Kush Munjal, Hyunkook Lee and Dale Johnson
• The Role of Room Acoustics in 6DoF Interactive Audio for XR — Lubomir Spacek, Hyunkook Lee and Dale Johnson
Prof Hyunkook Lee joined the panel session “Immersive Sound Volume II – Authors’ Roundtable”. Hyunkook is an author of the chapter “Natural Listening, Binauralization, and Recording Workflow” in the recently published book Immersive Sound Volume II: The Design and Practice of Binaural and Multi-Channel Experiences, edited by Prof Agnieszka Roginska and Prof Paul Geluso. A must-read book for anyone working in, studying or creating content for spatial audio.
The conference was full of inspiring papers, workshops, discussions, and demonstrations. Many thanks to the conference chairs, Brian FG Katz and Markus Noisternig, and to the AES team for their amazing work in hosting such a successful event. We are grateful for the opportunity to connect with the AVAR community, share our latest software developments, and showcase the research being carried out at APL.
The University of Huddersfield
