Reflections on Virtual Acoustics – Pun Intended

Over 30 years of effort by a number of research laboratories throughout the world have worked on the auditory version of the virtual reality problem. The results, to date, pale in comparison with what visual engineers have been able to achieve with a decent head-tracker and a cheap pair of goggles. In this overview talk, I will trace the thinking about virtual acoustics and immersive reality along its varied paths, and will highlight one or two new avenues that we have been pursuing.