Apple Computer Corp has demonstrated its new QuickTime VR component that enables a user to scan around a 360-degree environment and hear the sounds associated with each perspective, reports MacWeek. The volume of approaching views increases, while the departing view’s sounds fade away. For example, an automaker’s QuickTime VR film of a test drive might have three-dimensional views and ambient sounds from the driver’s perspective with windows rolled up or down, with people talking in the back seat or with the radio on. Each sound would be affected by the driver’s position. Apple says the purpose of QuickTime VR is to recreate viewed scenes more realistically. The sound integration, which Apple cautioned is only a technology demonstration at this point, works with QuickTime movies, photographs or graphics images that have been compiled using QuickTime VR.
