ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on various social media channels that discussed spatial audio and audio specifically for the new formats. Ambisonics stems directly from stereo and the work done by the inventor of stereo, Alan Blumlein—who considered height and depth, as well as left/right panning, from the start. One might tends to take stereo for granted, but an understanding of its subtleties makes Ambisonics easier to grasp—in fact almost inevitable, with stereo just an obvious first step. Indeed, Blumlein used the term binaural to describe stereo, anticipating head-related transfer functions (HRTFs), ERTFs, and custom headphone mixes as well as twin-speaker rendering. Linear media such as film and television have a slightly different goal to what one might have in the new realities. The new technologies are significantly different from linear media, as the entire point of the experience is the sense of immersion and agency.
