WoTechnological Innovation in Audio Delivery

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background Information

Stereo has been the standard format in the music industry since the mid-1960s, according to most estimates. There have been several attempts to overcome this format, but it appears that stereo has always found a way to maintain its position as the dominant format in the marketplace (Davies, 2015). Nonetheless, spatial audio may be relevant and worthwhile to investigate and compare to stereo from the listener's perspective, particularly in light of the growth of immersive technologies in recent decades (Rumsey, 2001). Since the gaming industry and the internet of things have fuelled the rise of spatial audio intertwined with new technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality (AR/VR), incorporating interactive possibilities is also a strong candidate for inclusion in this project's implementation (Roginska and Geluso, 2018). As a result, this project aims to investigate the possibility of change in the medium audio delivery and an improvement in the audio/visual interactivity of the user. In the decades prior to the early 2000s, technological creativity was one of the long standing research topics one could draw upon for guidance. Researchers have many threads to follow when looking for the "Mother of Invention". The term necessity describes an invention that will emerge regardless of the influence of individuals. Alternatively, is it the "act of ingenuity," without which needs may never be fulfilled, but needs would likely never be known without that same act? This claim by Jewkes et al. (1958) is seen in numerous arguments in favour of the individual act, where individuals are shown to be responsible for nearly all the inventions of the twentieth century. It is also common to hear the inventor's role emphasised with a statement that the topic is outside the realm of scientific inquiry. Space appears to enhance the listening experience in music, as does the relationship between sound and picture. Listening to music exclusively in stereo limits both the spatial aspects of the music and the listener's potential interaction. Surprisingly, spatial audio and interactive works are underutilised in the music industry (Park, 2019). As shown by Berger et al. (2018), combining audio and visuals increases "auditory source localisation". This finding appears to account for the success of spatial audio combined with visuals. Additionally, the phenomenon seems to exist as the economical network ramifications are stopping the evolution of the format delivery. The infrastructure existent in the distribution as normally happens are not interested in the evolution of the end-user consumption.

Moreover, as Bijker (1995) points out, technological-social evolution and innovation in all facets of society are frequently driven by individual output; as a result, evolution is frequently stifled by established networks and commercial systems; as a result, the hierarchical canal of the business tends to remain unchanged in order to maintain the specified form. Building from the argument on internalist and contextualist (externalist) view on the technological evolution, where the former holding viewing technology in its minute details for one understand its development process while latter claiming socio-economics, political, and scientific advancement are central to changes in the technological landscape (Wiebe E. Bijker, 1995). This is the context in which this study intends to emphasise and possibly affirm that the notion is energising at this stage of cultural and intellectual development and transformation, which is currently underway. As Rumsey notes above, the mainstream consumer audio industry has made little progress in improving the spatial quality of sound, particularly since the 1980s. Several decades of testing and study have established this, and it is widely accepted. However, a considerable paradigm shift in terms of home audio playback equipment and contemporary technology has occurred only in the most recent time period. Thus, with the increased use of headphones to listen to music in the modern era, it makes sense to add this format, which one can reproduce or simulate via HRTF on headphones. One can argue that this has a lot to offer in terms of listening experience and is being embraced by firms such as Apple via the Dolby Atmos format. As a study reflects from Statista, over 400 million headphones have been sold in the year 2019, meaning that the increase of people listening through headphones is substantially greater than speakers. It seems that based on another survey, about 87 per cent of music listeners are from headphones leaving the other 13 per cent for speakers listening. This statistic comes with no surprise as most of society is gradually growing in its independence from other users, factors such as diversification in taste, demand and consumption reflect that we are all listening to different things at different times. Thus this diversification does not appear out of the blue, but it is coherent in regard to taste, lifestyle, disponibility and sound quality consumption among all the other media that is available at present. Platforms such as Spotify are of great influence in this diversification of the way and schedule when listening to music.

Thus, it seems we are ever dispersing from each individual in regard to our tastes and availability when listening and therefore consume this type of media. This study aims to demonstrate that an interactive and spatial medium of communication does significantly affect the listener.

Research Rationale

The purpose of this research and project is to demonstrate that, with the advances in technology and the availability of new delivery channels, we may be nearing the end of the era in which music is only presented in stereo. The possibility to interact with the environment and listen to immersive audio simultaneously as this application reflects, in which it contributes to a greater Imaginarium and audio-visual experience that is comparable to the present achievements in other facets of creative arts. Aside from television, music formats are one of the only mediums that have not changed or progressed much in the last 50 years. Although, technology has progressed in the way the formats are delivered, such as better equipment to listen to, enjoy, and share, but music, at its core, lacks depth and creativity in terms of format consumption. Because of this, this artefact was built in order to consider and take advantage of the missing ways of presenting these very valuable options.

Problem Statement

According to the current musical landscape, there are very few risky formulas for success, and when it comes to electronic music, it appears that grounded on the previous progress to lay the groundwork for the future. Increasingly, more remakes of pieces that were created some 30 or 40 years ago, or even earlier, are remodelled. One can argue that it appears that the advancement in music landscape is approaching an age of exhaustion. Admittedly, with the current breakthroughs in interactive media, such as virtual reality and augmented reality, there is growing to believe it is not necessary to keep replicating and emphasizing things that were established years ago. A few examples of this are the use of rhythmic patterns based on the 808 and 909 drum machines, as well as a lack of originality in using the creative potential that we have collected over the last few years in terms of drum programming. Currently, the industry is experiencing a problem. Arguably, the lack of diversity and institutionalisation of the medium and consumption prevents it from breaking free and experimenting with new ideas. New approaches to generating and interacting with the medium are being investigated. When looking into various ways of music perception and consumption, the core ideology underlying the concept is to demonstrate that adding another layer of interaction and presentation has no effect on the progression of music and our perception of it. This project intends to close the gap between auditory and visual approaches to contemporary art and multimedia by combining the two disciplines.

Research Aim

The aim is to evaluate spatial Audio and interactivity environment in enhancing listener’s experience beyond the stereo Systems

Research Objectives

The objectives for the study are to:

Understanding the reason behind the lack of evolution from the stereo format.

Understanding why spatial audio and interactivity are not more commonly used.

Discuss and argue about the closure on this specific format.

Compare the listener’s perception between the three formats (stereo, spatial and visual interaction).

Research Question

To what extent does a spatial format and interactivity environment enrich the listener's experience beyond the stereo format delivery?

Chapter 2: Literature review

Music Historical Background

As Berger et al. (2018) questioned, are people’s thoughts capable of influencing their perception of the world in the future? In other words, the multi-sensory integration and recalibration process produces a link between sensory perception (such as vision, touch, and audition) and an accurate understanding of our surroundings. It was exciting viewing this paper as this process is dependent on our sensory systems' flexibility. A "ventriloquism aftereffect" is a clear example of this type of plasticity in the audio-visual realm. An imagery-induced ventriloquism aftereffect in which visualising a visual stimulus elicits the exact frequency-specific aural aftereffect. These findings show that the same cross-modal sensory plasticity is induced while imagining a sensory stimulus as when trying to recreate that sensation with one's senses. A study by Paterson et al. (2018), dealing with an auto ethnography of the "Five Year VariPlay" project, which ran for five years gave great insight into applying the possibilities of current technology to make an app that can modify a song's sound in real-time. While simultaneously having a machine-driven method that can playback a different song version at the user's discretion. Thus, it helped have a greater understanding of the interactive concept, its operation of the app, and the approach these areas, such as product development, music creation, mastering, and any concerns that may have arisen throughout the commercialisation of the latter. Geronazzo et al. (2019) gave a great insight into how enhancing a media format, or the conjunction of different media types can alter and enhance the auditory perception of music and visuals. While most audiobooks do not take much input to listen to, the actual listening part is usually a relatively passive procedure that does not demand much attention. The inclusion of spatial interaction in this project gave a storytelling scenario another dimension of perception and consumption. The advent of new and exciting opportunities could influence the user experience. The purpose of this article helped create an Imaginarium through a portable prototype system that utilises an integrated hardware platform and binaural audio rendering, creating an immersive interactive audio narrative experience for listeners. The findings of this study and project confirm that this prototype produces more immersion compared to regular audiobooks, particularly for emotional experiences such as dread and panic. According to Miranda and Wanderley (2006), the new technologies allow us to start with a blank sheet of paper when designing musical instruments or applications, which can lead to entirely new styles of music and auditory perception being consumed within current settings. When it comes to the computer sound, we have various algorithms for sound generation. The typical forms of audio delivery evolutionary history have been the same for many years. Thus, trying to implement a new way of consumption that made sense as an audiophile resonated with the need to create something that has not been tested yet. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, and even late in the nineteenth, sound engineers have understood the necessity of using space in their work (Macedo, 2015; Wöllner, 2017). Because economic viability usually limits methods to this issue to only two audio channels and two loudspeakers. As highlighted by Rumsey (2012), most popular approaches focus on only two channels and are limited to two loudspeakers designed to be placed in front of the listener. As a result, many concessions were required, and therefore it limited the creative alternatives for sound space rendering. Cinema sound has employed more than two channels for quite some time, but most consumer audio systems, and music listeners, unsurprisingly, have stuck to just two channels (Toole, 2017; Holman, 2014). This has changed lately with the approach regarding HRTF and straightforward equipment such as headphones.

Interactivity, Spatial Audio

As Collins and Halverson (2018) suggest, there is a broad necessity for interacting and consuming new media in present times. As mentioned before, developments in virtual and augmented reality and subsequently advances in technology have placed a greater emphasis on the possibilities and requirements listeners have in terms of experimenting with new sensations. As a result, it was determined that in order to increase the originality of this application, a visual connection with the musical pieces was required (Payling, 2019, p. 65). When referring to interactivity, artists have pondered the relationship between music and imagery for ages. Aristotle and Pythagoras reasoned that the musical scale was linked to the rainbow spectrum of hues (Moritz. 1997). Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton investigated the relationship between music and colour in the Renaissance (Jenny, 2016; Burke, 2014; Drake, 2019; Giles, 2016). Before the twentieth century, several artistic movements, such as Bauhaus and the Futurists, explored different ways of merging music and images. Oskar Fischinger and Walther Ruttman also developed coloured animation and live music films in Germany in the 1920s (Moritz 1997). Artists have yearned to produce music for the eye with similar visual effects to that of sound for the ear since ancient times (Kaye, and LeBrecht, 2015; Krahé et al., 2015). However, light is more difficult to control than air, making it impossible for light-based musicians to succeed in the industry. Innovators of visual music (such as Father Castel) dealt with cumbersome devices (Castel's Clavecin Oculaire, 1729-1754, which used 500 candles, 60 reflecting mirrors, and 240 levers and pulleys) that were capable of very limited visual results (Adkins, 2012; Riva, 2015). Despite that, many other artists became interested in experimenting with various devices due to the promise of a breakthrough in technology. Until the dawn of cinema, painters of light could not adopt a standardised technology that allowed a straightforward and accurate production of visuals for a broad audience. This breakthrough will manifest itself at a later point in time with the creation of computers and algorithms. Thus in the mid-1960s, through his studies on computer-generated manipulation of visuals using mathematical functions, many people believe that John Whitney is "the father of computer graphics" (Paul 2003: 15). His creations using computers were the first of their kind. However, it has been pointed out that visual music pioneers did not see a connection between colour and music. Therefore, Whitney argues, "they were missing the essence of their art" (Youngblood 1970: 220). For the most part, he approaches his music analogies loosely: "The biggest challenge I have with my type of graphics is that it must have a comparable creative issue to that of composing music" (Youngblood 1970: 220). When 'affordable personal computers were strong enough to handle photographs, render 3D models, design Web sites, edit video and mix audio with comparable ease,' the accessibility of digital art went hand in hand with progress in personal computing technology (Tribe and Jana 2007: 10).

As suggested by Boltz, previous research has demonstrated that musical soundtracks can influence the emotional effect, perception, and recall of visual information. According to the findings of the study, visual information affects the perception and memory of music, and there is evidence to suggest that the presence of visual information influences the emotional experience of music listening in the reverse direction. Moreover, as (Berger et al., 2018). Suggests the research is done on multi-sensory consolidation (Witten and Knudsen, 2005), and multi-sensory learning has revealed the extent to which visual perception can influence auditory perception (Howard and Temple (Recanzone, 1998; Lewald, 2002; Wozny and Shams, 2011). When an auditory source is presented at the same time as a visual source, the ventriloquist illusion—an audiovisual illusion in which the perceived location of an auditory source is translocated toward a visual source—is observed, one classic example of visual influence over the perceived location of sounds can be observed. At present, the most popular available format to release commercially music is the stereo format, or almost so; as a result, one of the features implemented in the artefact is the ability for the user to interact graphically while listening to either the immersive or the stereo version. On the other hand, Brain Eno is an excellent point of reference because he has already explored the audiovisual domain with a series of apps such as Bloom, Scape, and Quarta (Scoates, 2013; Tamm, 1995). The user or listener can interact with visuals while listening to or composing a piece of music in this type of environment.

Spatial Audio

Immersive audio is also an intrinsic element in this application, with the advances of gaming, and overall technology has gathered great search in the past couple of years. The inclusion of this format is also a statement for looking ahead on how to listen to music in the future. The use of spatial separation as a compositional characteristic is thought to have begun with the call-and-response form of antiphonal music, which developed as an extension of Gregorian chant during the mediaeval period (Boren, 2017; Holman, 2014). A chorus in the left and right sections was utilised for antiphonal singing by Flemish composer Adrian Willaert, who was based in Venice around 1550. This was in response to the two organ chambers on either side of the altar in St. Mark's Basilica, which was oriented to either side of the altar (Holman, 2014). It was Giovanni Gabrieli's work on Willaert's work that sparked the development of more complicated spaced-antiphonal singing, which began about 1585 when he was appointed principal organist at the same church. As a result, he is credited with being the first to employ specific directions for musicians and their positioning in more than a simple left-right orientation, and this was particularly appropriate for the site, which had a cross-form within a roughly square footprint. The melodic lines were kept more distinct for listeners in the evolving polyphonic style by spatially splitting them into groups of musicians, which was a development of the polyphonic style (Robusté, 2014). Other churches, such as Freiburg Cathedral in Germany, which was completed in 1513 and contains four organ cases arranged around the space, were influenced by the aural use of space in the same way as those in Venice, including and especially those in Venice. "Swallow's nest" organs were found in mediaeval churches at Chartres, Freiburg, Metz, and Strasbourg, which were located high up in the nave (the tallest part of the church), "striving to lift music, embodied in the organ, high up into the light-filled interior, as a metaphor for musica divina," according to the author. 2 It is written in the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique (1830) that an oboe should be positioned off stage to convey distance between the performers. The section "Tuba Mirum" of the composer's Requiem (1837) employs four small brass-wind orchestras referred to as "Orchestra No. I to the North, Orchestra No. II to the East, Orchestra No. III to the West, and Orchestra No. IV to the South," emphasising space and introducing the problem of assigning directions to channels! Orchestrations for each of the four orchestras are distinct from one another. As Malham Suggests (1999), since the late nineteenth century, when it became possible to transmit sound over greater distances, researchers have sought techniques to enable sound systems to cope with the frequency and amplitude aspects that make up a sound event and the spatiotemporal elements. As one might expect, since the sounds being communicated are musical in nature, this is of particular significance. The acoustic environment in which music was being performed was established in the past, and all musical events took place inside that environment. Because of the breakage of that age-old link, audio engineers face significant hurdles in determining how to restore the bond after such space/time broadcasts properly. Fortunately, there are several solutions. Perhaps more crucially, vast chances arose for composers to investigate and exploit the largely unexplored space domain in music, which opened up enormous possibilities for them.

Blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) technologies in Music

Blockchain and the Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) technology makes all these interactivity and spatial applications possible on its viability. The already established infrastructure is ideal for this kind of application that usually would have a lot more difficulties in distribution if the Blockchain was non-existent. It would be impossible, but the way it can be implemented makes sense how we must evolve on the formats we create through the technology. According to Beck and Müller-Bloch (2017), Blockchain technology is a revolutionary invention that can challenge or possibly replace conventional business models that rely on third parties to provide confidence. When Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008, he presented the notion of Blockchain, which was initially employed as the technology underlying digital currencies in their early years (Nakamoto 2008). When the second generation of Blockchain (such as Ethereum) was developed in 2014, it enabled the programming and execution of software – known as smart contracts – on all participating Blockchain nodes. As a result, any user can design and deploy applications on a global infrastructure that everyone shares (Buterin, 2014; Wood, 2014) Because new concepts designed to simplify human interaction and collaboration on a large scale have been developed in a variety of industries (for example, supply chain management, international payments and international trade finance; energy markets; and notary services). For example, Christopher D. Christidis and Devetsikiotis (2016) and Morabito (2017) for examples of such concepts. Much attention is on the use cases of initial coin offerings (ICOs), which are re-inventing crowdfunding through the use of Blockchain and its capacity to tokenize assets. Fridgen et al. (2018) developed a formalised use of Blockchain technology. The ERC-20 standard has contributed to the phenomenal success of initial coin offerings (ICOs), which have raised an estimated $12 billion worldwide to date (AutonomousNEXT, 2018). A single interface for fungible tokens that are divisible but not distinct was specified in this standard, which was unanimously agreed upon by the developer community to assure interoperability (Vogelsteller, 2015). NFTs, on the other hand, are distinguished from fungible tokens in two significant ways. Every NFT is distinct, and it cannot be divided or combined with another NFT (eVoshmgir, 2018). This new form of the token was initially launched with the ERC-721 standard in late 2017, and it has since gained widespread use (Entriken et al. 2018). Unlike the ERC-20 standard, ERC-721 deviates significantly from it since it expands the standard interface for tokens by extra functions to ensure that tokens based on it are uniquely non-fungible and therefore unique (Entriken et al., 2018). For practitioners, the unique features of NFTs open the door to a plethora of new application scenarios. It is beneficial for the tokenization of specific assets, which is not possible with fungible tokens because they cannot digitally represent uniqueness in the same way. Practitioners have conducted a slew of experiments in recent months using NFTs to represent both digital products such as virtual gaming assets, digital artwork, and software licences and physical assets such as luxury items and automobiles, among other things (Butcher, 2018; Griffin, 2018). It is believed that NFTs would be essential in unlocking the collectables industry, which has an estimated global market size of 200 billion (Fenech, 2018).

Chapter 3: Specification and Design

The purpose of the programme is to provide the listener with the possibility to interact with the music while they are listening to it, as well as the ability to select the audio format in which they want to listen to it. It is worth noting that the user will have the opportunity to choose between immersive and stereo formats within the application, which distinguishes it from other options available in the present audio delivery landscape The design has been developed and conceptualised to be extremely simple for the end-user to operate, with only a few parameters and is intended to be used in a variety of situations. Instead, most of the interaction is achieved by hovering the cursor over the app canvas and/or by combining algorithms from the basic toolbar that is included with the application. The usage of a reactive algorithm at the back end was also employed in order to establish a connection between the music played with stripes and lights and the user interface. In its core, the patch is a combination of jitter and Max/Msp, with two jit.windows grabbing the audio for a reactive output to the music and another jit.window grabbing the video for outputting it equally to the music. It was required to build an "environment" for each track through a video that would reflect the ethos and philosophy of each piece presented. In addition to the video presented, the editing, which was also done in max, reflects the piece philosophical approach in its artistic fundamentals. Therefore, each video has a visual message in relation to the piece presented, its abstraction relates directly to the artist input and ways of interpretation from the user/listener. Also is worthy of mention that all of the films and other materials utilised are completely free of intellectual property rights. In order to make this application user friendly and appreciative, the interface is quite simple, with only a few parameters visible in the user human interface. In addition to an on/off button, the mouse serves as the primary instrument when dragging to manipulate visual effects and to reset the graphic interface when clicking. Moreover, there are two other parameters where the user can interact, being gone a tab with different algorithms to choose from for visual effects and ultimately a tab with two audio format options, from which the user can select any desired time. Therefore, this project is presented in the form of a standalone interactive application. It is, therefore, catalogue it and use the term of a media player, although it has no resemblance to any media player that currently orbits the market. There is a similar app that exists by brian Eno, although its fundamental output has not much resemblance to this artefact, as this one gives the possibility to interact with visuals while listening to a piece of music through a visual artistic interpretation set out from the creator. Furthermore, there are different settings and philosophical content for all the different tracks of the album. In terms of practicality and function, while listening to the music, the user can create, interact and ultimately manipulate different scenarios through the parameters available in order to manipulate the imagery of the video in relation to the music. Through the extra tab added to the core parameters, an array of different algorithms can be set to create different effects on the music video clip. In its programmed functionality, the user is able to change the settings, by simply hovering the pointer on the screen, subsequently, change the video's imagery, feel, colour and interpretation while listening to the piece. However, the user is also able to tweak the content by converging the multiplication of the different algorithms available on the tabs. In its functionality, once the user touches the screen again it will reset the image and give another starting point.

This system is thought to be presented and accessible on all types of devices therefore compatibility to operative systems such as windows and IOS are also currently being developed.

Chapter 4: Implementation

The implementation of the system is covered in detail in this chapter. The application design section contains technical information regarding the system, such as the decisions made regarding the system and software design of the system. Whereas the source code section covers the system's organisational structure, including the various folders and file organisation algorithms. There is an overview of the directory structure of the algorithm directories, and there is an explanation of the objects organised and designed. Various jitter formats are utilised in the application, and each one is explained in detail. This section includes information about the system's activities, tools, audio, and image components. The architecture of the software is comprised and created through Max/Msp and jitter. The main programming of the application is implemented through jitter, although in this patch, its functionality is achieved through a merging of both jitter and Max/MSP.

Application Design

The main idea in the design process was to have a very intuitive and easy to use application, where all the audio formats were embedded and the interactivity part would also make part of the application. Regarding the interactivity of the software, it would make sense that it was all a canvas for interacting with the cursor. An extra tab containing different combinations for the various algorithms was also intended in order to create more creative possibilities.

Application Source Code

The main component is the code source in grabbing the audio and respectively making it reactive to the audio is the code: [jit.catch~ @mode 2] which outputs to: [jit.matrix Catchy 4 float32 320 240], therefore, capturing the audio source and creating a reactive output in relation to the audio input. The object jit.op. applies the binary exertion of the two inputs and outputs it to the main source. The immersive and stereo output of the patch is executed through the object [selector] where both signals play simultaneously. The interaction for the user is created through a [picslider] that asset values through the given algorithms created in the [pak] object. The output is set by the merging of the two jit.windows and both selector objects.

System’s Organisation Structure.

It is a musically eclectic album with songs diversifying in the electronic music ethos. From soundscapes and interludes to trip-hop, techno and chill-out music. It contains in total 12 tracks, various production techniques were applied such as generative music, sampling, live recordings, synthesis with analogue and digital equipment. Software and hardware equipment was used in the compositional process.

The Album Tracklist:

Low tide Feat. Ylva Falk (4.08) Elastic Reflections (1.36) Compor Feat. Bablicious. (5.14) blue plaiedian (3.54) Sonorise (4.18) I never left (2.48) Snowball Feat. Chameleon Collective. (5.23) Cloning (2.22) Shockwave (4.09) Gairc lrac (2.14) Bells of delusion (5.27) Goodbye machine (3.16)

Chapter 5: Data collection

Initial Informative Survey

Twelve songs were created, and then presented in three distinct forms. One format was in stereo and the others in spatial audio and NFT format. Furthermore, the formats were featured in a separate interactive application where the user could listen to both audio formats while also interacting with the song's visuals/videos (Collins et al. 2014). For the final point, because this is a piece of interactive software rather than a format commonly used in the music industry, adapting it to Blockchain technology makes sense to make it available for distribution as a commercially viable application in this context. Because of this, this format will be presented as an NFT (Non-Fungible Token), which is currently the only method of distributing this format that is capable of being distributed (Bray, D.L. 2021). This three formats (NFT, stereo, and spatial audio) were presented to 30 listeners separated into two categories for this study: one in stereo alone, one in spatial audio-only, and one with the application's complete functionality: audiophiles and Listeners on a sporadic basis. Thus, this project was designed to ultimately assist in determining the extent to which the content of additional listening options and interactivity enriches and enhances the listener's impression. The outcomes would be compared and critically assessed utilising aesthetics, technical attributes, workflow efficacy, audience perception of musical quality via listening tests, and an experiment using generated music in different settings as criteria. By comparing production workflows and their effectiveness for future output, based on survey data and practice-led research, could provide a better understanding of the music and format prevalent in contemporary society (Smith et al. 2009). Employing a mixed research method where the qualitative approach delved into underlying factors that provide better understanding of two audio formats from the participants’ perspective while also quantitatively mapping out the questions raised on the spatial format and interactivity environment enriching the listener's experience. The survey questions were categorised into two. In total, 50 per cent of the questions were of a qualitative nature, with the remaining being of a statistical structured. Participants with different backgrounds were invited to test it, different genders, different ages and about half of the participants were audiophiles and the other half were occasional listeners. The sampling process was random. The questions were scaled from one to ten, and questions included the quality of the app, their own format preferences, which formats they preferred, what would they do to improve the app, and overall experience with the App. In compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and University of West London regulations, all the potential participants were informed of the purpose and scope of this study in addition to being assured of their privacy. They were required to sign an informed consent letter stipulating the purpose and scope of the study as well as assurance of confidentiality on private and personal data.

Chapter 6: Survey and Findings

Participants Demographics

The survey incorporated questions on participants’ demographics (gender and age). As shown in Figure 6.1, the 17 participants (57%) were male while the rest being female. The participants’ age distribution ranged from 22 (youngest) to 54 years (Figure 6.2). This gives a generations perspective on the music listening experiences.

Format Preference

The results show that the audience tends to prefer the app to the stereo or the immersive single formats. The stereo format got rated 8.4 out of 10 while the app reached an 9.1/10. The audience comments were globally very positive.

Application Ease-to-Use

The app seems apparently easy-to-use and provides an overall good experience for the audience. Concerning the attributes of naturalness, presence and preference (Figure 6.4). All three got a better rating in immersive (with the app) than in stereo alone. The results between stereo and immersive were surprisingly close (Figure 6.3).

Overall Experience

Naturalness got rated 8.6 in stereo and 8.17 in immersive. While presence got rated 8.2 out of 10 in stereo and 8.27 in immersive. Preference in the format got rated by 14 participants in stereo and 16 participants in the immersive format. The audiophiles were very interested in the immersive formats and were very keen to listen to (Figure 6.5). While the occasional listeners were a little more confused and preferred the stereo format.

Chapter 7: Discussion

The findings demonstrate that the app obviously piqued people's curiosity to a significant degree. The ability to transition from one format to another demonstrated a high level of novelty and interest from listeners, despite the fact that this technology option was not available in the music industry at the time of testing. In part, this was due to the fact that most people are already accustomed to listening on portable devices such as tablets and smartphones, and this programme was not designed to work with these formats at the time of writing. Perhaps, once it is made available, it will have an impact on the engagement and playability of this app's component. Regarding the immersive format, the majority of listeners found it to be extremely intriguing, however, others were not prepared to listen and preferred the stereo format. When the listener did not wish to interact with the app, the reactive capabilities of the app were also a favourable aspect. The only apparent stumbling point is the size of the app in relation to the possibilities for commercialisation through the use of Blockchain technology. The backup strategy, which takes into consideration this issue, is creating the same application in webGL format and executing it in the p5js programming language instead of the original format. It is worth mentioning that good listeners tend to rate the app more than occasional listeners. This might be explained by the fact that good listeners might be more sensitive to the subtleties of the immersive sound format. It is interesting that the biggest difference between the stereo format and the app comes from attribute preference. This result tends to show that the audience quite clearly is more receptive to a new format. In the paper, in terms of preference, the interactive-immersive combo might be more interesting for the consumers. The fact that stereo is still massively dominating the music market comes from external reasons including the practicality of distribution, good spatial compromise and quality. In addition, all the listeners have used headphones. This might be a reason for the success of the immersive format. Indeed, if the listeners would have used monitors, the immersive impact might have been diminished. In addition, the combo of visual-immersive audio with headphones might be stronger than with monitors. Indeed, wearing headphones would help to put the listeners into a different reality. Headphones probably help to cut the experience of reality and brings the listeners to a different dimension where the visuals have a bigger impact.

Chapter 8: Conclusion

The conclusion is based on the feedback given by the participants counterbalanced by the logistical evaluation in the production and distribution of the application. It seems that it was greatly accepted by the audience. The immersive and stereo formats were very well received as an alternative by the participants. Whoever a little improvement would be required on the interactivity side of the project. The fact that it is not yet available to IOS and phones greatly limits the whole concept output. In music, it appears that the use of space, as well as the interaction between sound and visual, enhances the listening experience. Listening to music primarily in stereo reduces both the spatial aspects of the music and the potential interaction between the listener and the music. The purpose of this research and project was to demonstrate that, with the advances in technology and the availability of new delivery channels, we may be nearing the end of the era in which music is only presented in stereo. The possibility to interact with the environment and listen to immersive audio simultaneously as this application reflects, in which it contributes to a greater ecosystem and audio-visual experience that is comparable to the present achievements in other facets of creative arts. Using a reactive algorithm created to establish a connection between the music played with stripes and lights and the user interface, a standalone application was created using the Max/MSP software. Twelve songs with two distinct formats (stereo and spatial) were created. In order to determining the listeners’ experience on the songs, a survey was conducted. The survey consisted of a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions aimed at capturing the underlying participants’ opinions and rated interactivity with the music. It is noteworthy to mention that only one song from the album was used for the survey. From the findings, although the ultimate concept is to have it as an NFT on an existent platform. So only then we will be able to evaluate its business success and market search. One of the possibilities is to also create one app only for all the songs in the album and selling it as an entertainment program with each song having its own music video that can be interacted with. Overall as a beta version, it gives the author a great insight and understanding of how to tackle the problems that arisen and improve the application.

Reference

Bijker, W.E., 1997. Of bicycles, bakelites, and bulbs: Toward a theory of sociotechnical change. MIT press.

Collins, A. and Halverson, R., 2018. Rethinking education in the age of technology: The digital revolution and schooling in America. Teachers College Press.

Davies, A.C., 2015. Stereo Sound Recording and Reproduction? Remembering the History [sp History]. IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, 32(5), pp.14-16.

Drake, S., 2019. 8. Renaissance Music and Experimental Science. In Essays on Galileo and the History and Philosophy of Science (pp. 190-207). University of Toronto Press.

Fridgen, G., Lockl, J., Radszuwill, S., Rieger, A., Schweizer, A. and Urbach, N., 2018. A Solution in Search of a Problem: A Method for the Development of Blockchain Use Cases. In AMCIS (Vol. 2018, p. 11).

Geronazzo, M., Rosenkvist, A., Eriksen, D.S., Markmann-Hansen, C.K., Køhlert, J., Valimaa, M., Vittrup, M.B. and Serafin, S., 2019. Creating an audio story with interactive binaural rendering in virtual reality. Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, 2019.

Krahé, C., Hahn, U. and Whitney, K., 2015. Is seeing (musical) believing? The eye versus the ear in emotional responses to music. Psychology of Music, 43(1), pp.140-148.

Miranda, E.R. and Wanderley, M.M., 2006. New digital musical instruments: control and interaction beyond the keyboard (Vol. 21). AR Editions, Inc.

Paterson, J., Toulson, R. and Hepworth-Sawyer, R., 2019, September. User-influenced/machine-controlled playback: the variPlay music app format for interactive recorded music. In Arts (Vol. 8, No. 3, p. 112). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.

R. L. Bleidt et al., "Development of the MPEG-H TV Audio System for ATSC 3.0," in IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 202-236, March 2017, doi: 10.1109/TBC.2017.2661258.

Robusté, J.R., 2014. Spatial hearing and sound perception in musical composition (Doctoral dissertation, Universidade de Aveiro (Portugal)).

Toole, F.E., 2017. Sound reproduction: The acoustics and psychoacoustics of loudspeakers and rooms. Routledge.