Thursday, 29 November 11:00 - 12:45  Garnet 217
		Karlheinz Brandenburg Director Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT About Karlheinz Brandenburg Karlheinz Brandenburg first discovered the audio compression format, also known as MP3, while as a specialist in mathematics trying to find ways to compress music files. Previously only known and used in university research, his invention has since come a long way to become a commercially available invention. Karlheinz Brandenburg's accolades include the AES Silver Medal, the IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronic Award, the German Future Award, and the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

How research is changing our lives: MP3 and more

In the past 15 years, our way to get access to our favourite music has changed dramatically: From buying CDs at the next record shop and listening to them at home or in the car to having access to millions of tracks on mobile devices and everywhere. Many people consider the research on high quality audio coding as the decisive element triggering our current world of portable audio.

This talk will feature both the story of MP3 and cover new research aiming for the ultimate sound experience.

MP3 has had a long way from basic research at universities, standardization in MPEG to grassroots marketing and widespread adoption by the industry. Using models of human hearing, something deemed impossible 30 years ago was reached: To compress high fidelity music by a factor of 10 or more without compromising (much) audio quality. The combined effort of many people, organizations, and many unnamed enthusiasts enabled this technology to become the standard for audio on the Internet.

The story of audio in the age of digital media is by far not finished. We all want more and less audio: Less noise in our working environment or at home, better sound wherever we want to enjoy music. An array of loudspeakers, built into our walls or into furniture, will be able to achieve both. Using wave field synthesis, an accurate replica of the sound waves in a real environment is possible. Such systems are already used to enrich the audio experience in theme parks, some movie theaters, museums and for live sound reproduction. In the future we will enjoy the ultimate acoustic illusion in our homes, coupled with the reduction of some of the surrounding noise.

Click here for an interview with Karlheinz Brandenburg done by fxguide.