Illuminarium Experiences, a global experiential entertainment company creating immersive venues, opened its first Illuminarium in Atlanta on July 1, 2021. llluminarium has entered a long-term strategic partnership with HOLOPLOT, an innovator and manufacturer of 3D audio technology. HOLOPLOT will equip the Illuminarium venue in Atlanta as well as future venues with their groundbreaking sound systems. Using HOLOPLOT, Illuminarium offers a first-of-its-kind experience immersing visitors with acoustic sensations.
HOLOPLOT is a Berlin-based hardware and software manufacturer of professional 3D audio technology. Since its foundation in 2011, HOLOPLOT has been pushing the boundaries of sound reproduction, by providing a radical new solution: The company’s technology allows to control sound similar to light, meaning to steer audio with highest precision to the desired target area only, all while creating a homogeneous soundfield with consistent level and quality over distance.
Related: Listen Technologies Launches Listen EVERYWHERE Private Channels
Furthermore, it enables an unprecedented realistic reproduction of audio content, specifically serving immersive installations with lifelike object localization. HOLOPLOT products are fully integrated systems combining powerful hardware with sophisticated software and IoT (internet of things) capabilities.
The two-room Illuminarium Atlanta venue is configured with a 360° immersive HOLOPLOT X1 system, consisting of 52 Modul 96 and 7 Modul 80-S. The installation complements the state-of-the-art visual projections and, together with the in-floor haptics, engages the audience in completely new ways by placing them “inside” the narrative.
“I have been very fortunate to work with Holoplot for the past several years. The X1 is an amazing new tool that opens up new possibilities and room for exploration,” says Peter Lehman, Sound Designer for HOLOPLOT. “As a Sound Designer and Composer who also mixes my own projects, this has been a quantum leap forward. I can do things that I could only imagine before. The sound system has now become part of the sound design palette.
In addition, from a more traditional loudspeaker performance perspective, the X1 has an incredible ability to deliver clean transients and phase-coherent audio. It just sounds great. I find myself using much less corrective EQ and fighting with the room less when mixing through an X1 array. The people at Holoplot are also genuinely wonderful to work with and are very passionate about their product. That makes a big difference.”
The X1 system at Illuminarium achieves unprecedented authenticity of sound reproduction, perfectly matched with the video projection. HOLOPLOT’s Wave Field Synthesis technology enables sound designers to recreate audio objects exactly like in reality. This even works within the audience room, as if the original source would be positioned right in front of the listener, who will have the same impression as in real-life. The sound object is therefore no longer bound to the position of the loudspeaker, but comes alive, moving through the 3-Dimensional space, delivering an incredibly realistic and tangible experience. This technology is one-of-a-kind and represents an entirely new way of engaging audiences with audio. Imagine an elephant charging at you on the screen and the sound comes so close that you feel like you can almost touch the animal.
