Immersive Sound Design: 5 Locations Where Audio Can Make an Impact

by Ben Arons, VP, Director of Music Technology

Immersive sound has long been part of entertainment. We’re delighted by surround sound at movie theaters, and immersive theater productions like the long-running Sleep No More place audiences in the center of the action through multi-sensory design. 

Recently, an Off-Broadway production of King Lear became the first live theater production to use Dolby Atmos sound, a technology originally developed for film exhibition, but will now give audiences a “uniquely 360º sonic immersion experience.” It’s one more example of how designers are staying on the cutting edge of sonic innovation. 

Increasingly, brands are also catching on to the power of immersive audio. When it comes to physical spaces, brands actually have similar goals of providing unique, memorable and emotionally resonant experiences for audiences. But instead of using music and sound design to elevate a Shakespeare story, the aim is to elevate brand storytelling. Boutique fitness centers are transforming workouts into club experiences complete with DJs and Bose speaker setups, and luxury car companies are using new audio technology (Dolby Atmos being one) to create the “illusion of a sound stage” for EV passengers. 

Immersive sound design is an effective route to take to increase impact. Our subconscious audio research has found there to be an 86% correlation between your reaction to sound and your subconscious desire to return to that experience. This means that whether you’re strategic about it or not, the sound of your brand experience could have a profound effect on your audience’s perception of your brand as a whole.

With this in mind, here are 5 locations where immersive sound design can make the most impact:

Retail Stores

We’ve all been shopping during the holidays and heard the same five songs playing over and over again on the overhead sound system. This type of maddening sonic repetition can impact not just guests, but employees as well.  

When it comes to retail, research has shown that a more strategic and immersive approach to sound design can affect mood, encourage repeat visits and increase dwell times. Experience designers might consider how they want guests to feel along their journey. Is it an entrance where you want to spark curiosity? Is it transitional space where music can subconsciously guide guests through a store? Is it a luxury area of the store where you want to inspire calm as shoppers browse? Each of these environments require different sonic solutions that can make or break the experience. 

AT&T Michigan Ave. - As part of the in-store experience for AT&T’s Chicago Flagship location, we created an evolving soundscape that elicits wonder and delight as guests enter the store’s rotunda.

Themed Attractions

For theme parks, sound is a powerful tool that can not only bring fantastical worlds to life through creative content, but it can also guide a journey as guests navigate the park. As a brand dedicated to entertaining guests through innovative storytelling, Disney has long been first in class when it comes to using sound as part of their themed attractions. 

Let's take Disney’s Star Wars-themed land, Galaxy’s Edge, for example. When you enter the land, a combination of sound effects, ambient soundscapes and a touch of original John Williams music transport guests to the world they’ve seen on screen. But the trick to true immersion is in the strategic thinking behind the music. Expert sound mixing, placement (and hiding!) of speakers and even volume contribute to making guests feel truly immersed in a galaxy far, far away. 

Museums

Post-pandemic, modern audiences are seeking more immersive experiences both in and out-of-home. One of the most powerful ways for educational institutions like museums to remain alluring to guests is to develop an immersive sonic strategy that amplifies the experience. This is not to say that the entire experience should be blanketed in sound design, but that the user journey through the exhibit is well supported by a holistic strategy. 

This was the case for The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, where we’re helping revitalize the museum-going experience with music and sound. Through a toolkit of gamified audio, immersive ambiences and intuitive UX sounds, the bespoke soundscape we created for their Wondrous Space exhibit subtly and thematically ties together interactive modules across the entire exhibit. It also mitigates the acoustic cacophony that can comes along with passing through different rooms of a museum. As a result, guests feel inspired, delighted and like they’re part of the environment rather than observers of it. 

Workplaces

In-office days can be distracting, with typing, phone calls and side conversations all interrupting the workday. But with immersive sound design, we can make the workplace more wellness-focused. In fact, research shows that when compared to typical office conditions, well-crafted soundscapes can move individuals into a state of relaxed productivity. Such soundscapes, often including biophilic sounds and beat entrainment, can create a workplace that is: 

• 16% More Calming 

• 13% More Pleasant 

• 9% Less Annoying  

Alongside our partners at Spatial, we’ve helped introduce a new wave of immersive sonic experiences suitable for these shared spaces. With a combination of their spatial audio technology and our audio creative, we’ve deployed soundscapes that have the power to both energize and calm employees throughout the workplace.

Soundscape Example - Workplaces can now embrace new technology and composition techniques to promote wellness. This meditative sonic journey produced by Made Music Studio incorporates research-backed audio elements proven to reduce anxiety.

Hospitals

Typically, hospitals are full of “sonic trash,” or sounds that are disruptive or not intuitive to the experience you’re looking to curate, and often abrasive to anyone spending a significant amount of time in this space. Constant beeps, alarms and medical machinery can add unnecessary stress to an environment that is already anxiety-inducing. As healthcare evolves, immersive sound design can play a role in how patients feel during in-person visits. 

Experience designers can take a patient-first approach using thoughtfully crafted music and sound. Alerts and PA announcements are necessary at hospitals, so how we can reimagine the sonic environment to promote healing rather than stress? A couple of ideas: biophilic noise compositions, or soundscapes incorporating the sounds of nature, can mask the sonic trash coming down the hallways, and designated quiet spaces with minimal to no audio bleed can provide safe havens for patients who need it. 

Going beyond the entertainment realm, brands in all categories can benefit from experience design that keeps music and sound at the heart of the experience. For when crafted and deployed strategically, immersive sound design has the power to not just transform a space, but elevate brand storytelling and impact audiences on an emotional level.