Video feature: Engineering 3-D sound

Choueiri index

Engineering professor Edgar Choueiri talks about 3-D sound and how he has developed a way to play true 3-D sound recordings over regular loudspeakers.

Video stills courtesy of Michael E. Wood

Edgar Choueiri, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University, has developed a way to play true three-dimensional sound recordings over regular loudspeakers, such as those found in televisions and computer laptops.

The technique may be used one day to allow 3-D televisions to produce lifelike sound and to help people with certain types of hearing impairments locate noises. This video excerpt produced by the School of Engineering and Applied Science includes segments demonstrating how Choueiri’s 3-D filter works. To learn more about Choueiri’s research and the 3-D filter, watch the full-length video.

Note: The filter in this video is designed to work with loudspeakers -- not headphones -- and can be experienced through standard computer speakers. Make sure the right and left speakers are on the correct sides.

If you are using a recent Apple MacBook to view this video, you may not be able to hear the demonstrations in 3-D due to the location of the MacBook's internal "subwoofer," which creates a strong left-right imbalance in the audio.