Sound research shows its worth

Building on his research into an assisted reverberation system, the technology was licensed to a small US company, Level Control Systems, that was later acquired by Meyer Sound.

The system, marketed as the Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system, ensures perfect acoustics independent of venue design, so is sought after for performance spaces that need to accommodate a variety of uses.

By using a mannequin with microphones placed inside the head, Dr Mark Poletti can accurately record 3D sound that can be reproduced using loudspeaker arrays.

As a result, Constellation is used in venues in the Americas, the Middle East, Asia and Europe, and also in Cirque du Soleil productions. It has received rave reviews from artists and audio experts alike.

Using Constellation microphones and loudspeakers, combined with the Variable Room Acoustics System (VRAS) technology developed by Dr Poletti, Constellation extends the acoustics of a space to allow optimal acoustical performance.

Dr Poletti was recently involved in upgrading Constellation's software to incorporate design improvements. Constellation won the Sound System Technology category at the 2011 Musikmesse International Press Awards—referred to as the Grammys of the musical instrument and professional audio sector.

"We are very happy that we've reached the million-dollar royalties milestone, which is significant in terms of the sales it would have taken to reach that point," Dr Poletti says.

"Since Meyer took over VRAS, the system's profile has also grown significantly, so we are now looking forward to a similarly significant increase in sales as a result."

IRL IP manager Neville Queree says the milestone is a major achievement for IRL as well as Meyer, which has grown sales of Constellation despite the US recession.

Meyer Sound recently broadened its market for Constellation from multi-purpose auditoria, schools and houses of worship to high-end recording studios, such as the Tamalpais Research Institute studios owned by Grateful Dead's Bob Weir.

Other developments to emerge from Dr Poletti's acoustics research include a recently completed demonstration prototype of a loudspeaker-based binaural sound system, which reproduces high-fidelity 3D sound using as few as two speakers.

The technology, which recently featured on Radio New Zealand, uses innovative audio digital signal processing to stop sound from the wrong speaker reaching the wrong ear.