Spatial audio describes how sound is distributed, localized and experienced within a space.
It shapes how visitors perceive distance, direction, scale and movement. In exhibitions, installations and spatial experiences, sound does not only play from loudspeakers. It becomes part of the architecture, the visitor route and the way a space unfolds over time.
In practice, this means designing how sound behaves in relation to architecture, loudspeaker placement, acoustic conditions and listener position.
It extends beyond stereo or surround formats. Spatial audio can include multichannel systems, localized sound sources, acoustic zoning, object-based sound, directional speakers, distributed loudspeakers and carefully tuned transitions between areas.
The goal is not technical complexity for its own sake. The goal is to make sound spatially meaningful: close or distant, focused or atmospheric, directional or surrounding, fixed or moving.
Spatial sound can define how a space is read.
Through composition, loudspeaker strategy and on-site tuning, sound can mark thresholds, connect separate areas, create focus within open environments or give a room a distinct acoustic identity.
This shifts sound from a media layer to a spatial layer. Visitors do not simply hear it. They move through it.
Exhibitions and museums
In exhibitions and museums, sound can connect exhibits into one coherent visitor journey. It supports orientation, reinforces content and structures routes through acoustic transitions, localized sound and spatial contrast.
Installations and immersive environments
Spatial sound can become the body of an installation. It can surround visitors, respond to their position or create a composition that changes as they move.
Architecture and public space
Sound can define atmosphere, scale and proximity. It can create intimacy within large environments or articulate different zones within an open layout.
Performances and staged experiences
For performances and staged experiences, musical material can be placed around performers and audiences, creating depth, movement and perspective beyond a frontal stage image.
This spatial approach is one foundation of our broader practice of sound scenography.
While spatial audio focuses on how sound behaves in space, sound scenography connects this behaviour with narrative, dramaturgy, interaction and the emotional arc of the visitor journey.
Learn more about sound scenography.
An orchestral score unfolds across four floors of the pavilion. Visitors move through distributed musical layers, experiencing composition as a spatial journey through the building.
A responsive sound and light environment surrounds the body with evolving sonic states. Ceiling speakers, exciters and low-frequency elements create a spatial field that shifts between passive, reactive and interactive modes.
A walk-in 3D sound installation in which 24 loudspeakers form the spatial body of an artificial entity. Visitors generate and manipulate sounds from a central stage while the soundscape unfolds around them.
A sonic journey through the universe
At TED2024, spatial sound, field recordings and data-driven music guided the audience from Earth toward cosmic scale. The performance was experienced entirely through sound in a surround environment.
An immersive exhibition where spatial sound and haptic feedback form a musical ecosystem. Visitors encounter animal migration and connected ecosystems through movement, listening and vibration.
This work requires the integration of concept, composition and technical design.
We begin by defining the role sound should play in the experience: orientation, atmosphere, narrative connection, interaction, musical depth or spatial presence.
From there, we develop the sonic structure, loudspeaker strategy, acoustic zones and behaviour of the system. Composition and technical planning develop together, because spatial sound only becomes clear when content, architecture and playback system support the same idea.
On-site tuning is essential. The final quality of spatial audio depends on how sound behaves in the actual space, with its materials, scale, reflections and visitor positions.
What is spatial audio?
It describes how sound is distributed, localized and perceived in space. It considers loudspeaker placement, acoustic conditions, architecture and listener position.
Is spatial audio the same as surround sound?
No. Surround sound is one format. Spatial audio is a broader approach to how sound behaves in relation to architecture, movement and perception.
How is spatial audio used in exhibitions and installations?
It can create depth, direction, proximity, transitions and acoustic zones. It helps visitors experience sound as part of the space rather than as a fixed playback source.
Does spatial audio always require many loudspeakers?
No. The number of loudspeakers depends on the spatial intention. A precise system can be simple or complex depending on the room, content and visitor journey.
When should spatial audio be planned?
Spatial audio should be considered early, together with architecture, exhibition design, media planning and visitor flow. This makes it possible to design sound as part of the spatial concept rather than as a late technical layer.
Planning a spatial sound system for an exhibition, installation or immersive environment?
We design spatial audio in relation to architecture, content and visitor movement.
