What Does Spatial Audio Mean? Highlights from IC26

Does anyone remember Virtual Barber Shop on YouTube? It’s an early example of binaural audio, a form of spatial audio. When you close your eyes and listen with headphones, the sounds feel naturally positioned, like someone is at times standing behind you or moving around.

Spatial audio is used in TV shows, movies, video games, VR, and music. The list goes on and on. But how exactly is spatial audio created? How is it different from 8D audio? And how can you begin to use it? At InfoComm 2026, an education session led by Rebecca Sullins, touched on this topic. Here are the highlights from her session, 8D / Spatial Audio – How Does it Work?

Although they’re sometimes confused, 8D audio and spatial audio are fundamentally different.

“What is 8D audio? Well, it's more a marketing term. There are no 8 dimensions,” began Sullins in her talk. 

Basically, 8D audio is more of an internet trend that uses stereo manipulation, such as panning, reverb, and timing effects, to create the illusion that sound is moving around the listener’s head. The effect can feel dramatic and immersive, but it’s ultimately artificial and limited to left-right movement. You also need headphones to listen to 8D sound properly.

Spatial audio, on the other hand, is a true three-dimensional audio technology. It uses advanced systems such as Dolby Atmos or binaural rendering to position sounds in a full 3D space. Unlike 8D audio, spatial audio is engineered for accuracy and realism, often using object-based audio techniques to anchor sounds in specific locations. The result is a far more natural and believable listening experience. Another differentiator from 8D audio is that spatial audio can be played back on different systems, such as headphones or speakers. 

To better understand spatial audio, we have to get into the science of how humans hear sound. There are many factors affecting how we localize sound, including:

• Frequency

• Indirect incidences

• Time differences

• Physiology

In the Virtual Barber Shop example, when the barber’s clippers move behind you or scissors snip near your left ear, the recording captures tiny differences in timing (when the sound reaches each ear), volume (louder in one ear than the other), and frequency (how your ear shape filters the sound). These cues are what your brain relies on in real life to locate sounds in 3D space.

Additionally, Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) describe how sound waves are naturally shaped by your unique anatomy before they reach your eardrums. Your brain uses these subtle changes to figure out exactly where a sound is coming from. If you’re creating spatial audio that you want to play through speakers, you’ll have to keep these factors in mind.

“The anatomy of your ear will literally shift the frequency,” explained Sullins. “Everybody's ear is approximately the same size [and] that doesn't super duper change between people. However, the folds in our outer ear will actually affect the frequencies that we hear. The outer ear (or pinna) amplifies a direct sound. It's especially noticeable in the 2 kHz to 4 kHz range. The pinna also encrypts directional information. You can't fake that with headphones. But there are certain frequencies that if you amplify them, humans will assume that sound is coming from in front of you, or above you, or behind you.”

She also noted that, “Your ears will block high frequencies from the back. The bigger ears you have, the more frequencies they’re going to block. So, if you want something to move behind a person, you're going to want to shift those frequencies because you're going to block those high frequencies with your ears.”

Spatial audio can be created through several methods, each tailored to different use cases. Let’s jump into some of the methods.

Binaural recording involves recording sound using microphones positioned in a dummy head or placed in-ear, capturing natural HRTF cues. It’s ideal for headphone listening and produces highly realistic 3D audio. This is how the Virtual Barber Shop video was made.

In systems like Dolby Atmos, sounds are treated as individual “objects” rather than fixed channels. Each object is assigned coordinates in a 3D space, allowing playback systems to dynamically place them around the listener.

Ambisonic recording captures a full 360-degree sound field using specialized microphones. This technique is commonly used in virtual reality and immersive media.

During playback, software processes audio signals to simulate 3D positioning using algorithms and HRTFs, even with standard headphones.

Interested in using spatial audio for your own project? Lucky for you, anyone with a computer, headphones or loudspeakers, and basic audio tools can begin experimenting with it. The key is understanding how to simulate 3D positioning and recreate the cues your brain uses to locate sound.

Here are a few ways to get started:

• Start with Headphones and Simple Tools. Spatial audio is best experienced through headphones, since most techniques rely on recreating how sound reaches each ear differently. Many beginner-friendly tools and DAWs (digital audio workstations) support spatial effects, including Reaper, Logic Pro, or Ableton Live for music production. These allow you to position sounds virtually around the listener by adjusting direction, distance, and movement.

• Experiment with Binaural Panning. A simple first step is to take a sound (like a voice or instrument) and move it through space. Pan audio left and right for a basic effect. Add reverb and delay to simulate distance. Use binaural plugins to place sound in front, behind, or above. This mimics the same HRTF cues used in real spatial audio and binaural recordings like the Virtual Barber Shop.

• Try Recording Your Own Binaural Audio. If you want a more hands-on approach, you can create spatial audio by recording it yourself. Use in-ear microphones or a binaural mic setup and record real environments (walking through a room or ambient sounds). Even DIY setups can produce surprisingly convincing 3D audio.

• Explore Object-Based and 3D Mixing. More advanced users can experiment with object-based audio, where sounds are placed in a virtual 3D space rather than fixed channels. Some tools and platforms to explore include Dolby Atmos tools (via Logic Pro or Pro Tools) or game engines like Unity or Unreal Engine, which include spatial audio systems for interactive environments. These allow you to define coordinates for sound sources and simulate how they change as a listener moves.

In this article, we learned the difference between 8D and spatial audio, what factors affect how we localize sound, and how spatial audio is made.

Unlike 8D audio, which relies on creative effects, spatial audio is grounded in the science of human hearing and uses precise techniques to recreate real-world sound behavior. By leveraging HRTFs, object-based mixing, and advanced rendering technologies, spatial audio enables listeners to experience sound as if it exists around them in physical space.

Factors like sound frequency, interaural time differences, reflected or reverberant sound, and our physiology all influence how we localize sound. These are important factors to keep in mind when experimenting with spatial audio.

Finally, to start playing around with spatial audio, all you need is a computer, headphones or loudspeakers, and basic audio tools.

Spatial audio represents a major step forward in how we experience sound. And as the tech continues to evolve, it will further shape the future of entertainment, communication, and immersive experiences.

Fixed spatial audio is a type of immersive, multi‑dimensional sound reproduction that creates a 360 audio environment, similar to surround sound, but without adjusting the sound direction based on your head movement.

Head-tracked spatial audio is similar to fixed spatial audio, but it uses motion sensors (typically located in your earphones) to change the direction of the sounds based on the position of your head. It’s a fairly new feature.

The answer depends on many factors, including whether you're planning to listen to music, movies, or other content. In general, Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones are a popular choice, and Apple AirPods Max are an interesting choice thanks to their personalized Spatial Audio and head tracking. When it comes to speakers, a dedicated Dolby Atmos system with ceiling speakers is ideal.

To create 8D audio, you’ll typically want to start with a stereo recording and then automate panning, so that the sound moves left and right continuously. By adding subtle reverb, delays, and EQ changes, you can create a sense of distance and space too.

Clear, high-quality audio is super important for video games and other experiences. Spatial audio significantly enhances video games, VR, movies, and simulations by creating a realistic 3D sound environment where users can accurately perceive the direction, distance, and movement of sounds. Good audio improves immersion, situational awareness, and emotional engagement.