Barco Acquires Iosono to Enhance 3D Cinema Sound Capabilities

Bookmark and Share

Wed, 09/24/2014 - 12:45 -- Nick Dager

Barco has acquired the team of 3D audio expert Iosono and its assets to further enhance and customize its object based immersive sound technology. In this way, it wants to help cinema exhibitors bring even more magic to the movie-going experience.

In close collaboration with its partners at Auro Technologies, Barco is committed to providing the best immersive sound system in the cinema market. The company says its efforts are bearing fruit. This year, Barco passed the landmark of 500 planned Auro 11.1 installations and a growing number of directors and producers around the world are embracing the sound format. 2014 box office successes like Lucy, Into the Storm, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Amazing Spiderman 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Expendables 3 and Transformers: Age of Extinction have all been mixed in Auro 11.1 by Barco. Joining forces with Iosono will provide Barco with access to an even deeper pool of experience and expertise with object based immersive sound.

As a pioneer in the push for an open standard for immersive sound together with Auro Technologies, Barco is proud to further customize the immersive sound playback experience for exhibitors. “Creating a standardized format for immersive sound is critical as it helps to control costs for content to be produced and distributed and will ultimately speed the adoption of immersive sound worldwide,” said Brian Claypool, senior director of strategic business development at Barco. “As this standardization effort continues, Barco remains committed to providing immersive sound solutions with its partners Auro Technologies and Iosono that are designed to fulfill the needs of the exhibition industry and give content creators the flexibility and tools to produce the best work imaginable.”

Wilfried Van Baelen, CEO of Auro Technologies said, “Being a pioneer in cinema sound is a privilege and an honor. We are so excited to be able to work together with more innovators like Iosono to further develop, the tools and processes that make the object based part of the Auro-3D format a truly magical experience. Iosono and Barco are the perfect complementary partners to further develop the Auro 3D listening experience and we look forward to showing the world what this new element of collaboration will yield for the industry.”

Founded in Erfurt, Germany, in 2004, Iosono quickly became a technology leader in 3D audio. The company specializes in object-based sound rendering in various professional applications, including cinema, by incorporating distance data, which takes the simple panning of sound around a three-dimensional space to the next level.

“We are honored to now be part of a company like Barco which has a vision and passion for creating the ultimate cinematic experience,” said Olaf Stepputat, former CEO of Iosono and now director of Barco Audio Technologies. ”We have been involved with making immersive sound for motion pictures before any other company in the market. Adding our capabilities to Barco’s will create a compelling system, which will create a listening experience unparalleled in the industry. We look forward to a bright future with Barco bringing Iosono’s experience in the accurate processing and display of acoustical information to Barco’s portfolio of market leading visualization products.”

Category: