S3A is a five-year UK research collaboration between internationally leading experts in 3D audio and visual processing at the Universities of Surrey, Salford and Southampton and BBC R&D. The partnership aims to unlock the creative potential of 3D sound to provide immersive experiences to the general public at home or on the move. S3A will pioneer a radical new listener centred approach to 3D sound production that can dynamically adapt to the listeners’ environment and location to create a sense of immersion. Current 3D sound systems rely upon fixed loudspeaker arrangements and acoustically treated rooms that are not practical for home use. S3A will change the way audio is produced and delivered to enable practical high-quality 3D sound reproduction based on listener perception.

A new listener centred approach to 3D sound production that can dynamically adapt to the listeners’ environment and location to create a sense of immersion.

The goal of S3A is to deliver a step-change in the quality of audio consumed by the general public, using novel audio-visual signal processing to enable immersive audio to work outside the research laboratory in everyone’s homes. S3A aims to unlock the creative potential of 3D sound and deliver to listeners a step change in immersive experiences. To achieve this S3A brings together leading experts and their research teams at the Universities of Surrey, Salford and Southampton and the BBC R&D.

Lean more about S3A achievements here.