Smyth Virtual Surround Sound Headphone Prototype for Yamaha

Smyth Research demonstrated a new Virtual Surround Headphone technology that places the sound field in a more natural environment, giving the illusion that one is actually listening to loudspeakers. In addition, the system also takes into consideration head-turning motion and maintains the actual direction of the sound source instead of the sound source turning with your head. In other words, if a sound is coming from the right side of the "room", it will continue to maintain that location, regardless if you turn your head. The system is being designed to be used with any type of stereo headphones.

To make the headphone surround experience more precise, the Smyth system incorporates a set of microphones that are placed in the user's ears, and, in combination with test tones, takes measurements of the users head and ear charateristics that affect the way the user listens to music via headphones. This profile information is then stored in the system.

Pictured on this page is the virtual surround headphone processor, remote control, and a pair of Sennheiser HD555 Headphones. The processor is being developed to be incorporated into surround sound receivers and/or preamps. You will notice that the processor includes an SD card slot. This feature allows the user to take their personal headphone listening profile mentioned earlier and transfer that information to another Smyth processor that is so equipped.

For more detailed information on how this technology works and how it is applied, check out Barry Rudolph.com.

For a look at the actual demonstration setup, proceed to the next photo in the gallery.