Podcasts are about to become very engaging if iHeartMedia makes sense. After the success of last year 13 Days of Halloween, iHeartRadio’s parent company plans to produce more 3D audio (or binaural) shows. It is teaming up with Blumhouse Television to build on the series with several 13-day shows organized around holidays. In addition, the companies produce a podcast called The Mantawauk Caves, while iHeartRadio releases bonus 3D episodes of some programs, including, The Ron Burgundy Podcast, throughout the year.
Overall, the company expects to produce about a dozen 3D audio podcasts. In addition, he plans to host live binaural radio events in his network of stations, with requests to listeners to wear headphones for full effect. According to The edge, iHeartMedia has built three studios in which they can record 3D audio.
The idea behind binaural sound is to make you feel like you’re in the same space as the action, with sounds, speakers and instruments flowing to your ears in different ears. The technology is not exactly new – binaural recording techniques and surround sound have been around for decades – though perhaps becoming more common.
A number of recent TVs and speaker systems support 3D audio, as do Amazon and Sony with some of their products. Along with podcasts and music, some visual media has been produced with a view to binaural sound. For example, the PlayStation 5 can produce 3D sound (the Virgin visual demo for Resident Evil Village uses the technique for an alarmingly large effect) The BBC has meanwhile released an episode of Doctor was with 3D sound.