Wave Field Synthesis - A Promising Spatial Rendering Concept
Modern convolution technologies offer possibilities to overcome principle shortcomings of loudspeaker stereophony by exploiting the Wave Field Synthesis (WFS) concept for rendering virtual spatial characteristics of sound events. Based on the Huygens principle loudspeaker arrays are reproducing a synthetic sound field around the listener, whereby the dry audio signal is combined with measured or modelled information about the room and the source’s position to enable the accurate reproduction of the source within its acoustical environment. Not surprisingly, basic and practical constraints of WFS systems limit the rendering accurateness and the perceived spatial audio quality to a certain degree, dependent on characteristic features and technical parameters of the sound field synthesis. However, recent developments have shown already that a number of applications could be possible in the near future. An attractive example is the synthesis of WFS and stereophony offering enhanced freedom in sound design as well as improved quality and more flexibility in practical playback situations for multichannel sound mixes.