RESEARCH

The SIPARIO project sees the synergy of partners such as the CIRI-EC and CIDEA laboratories, coordinated by CSA Ricerche , all with proven expertise in the acoustic field and, in particular, in theater acoustics.

The activities of the SIPARIO project fall within the competence of the CSA group , which uses its staff of technical personnel competent in architectural and building acoustics.
CSA follows the executive and practical aspects of both the study and the design of the dedicated listening rooms, as well as their construction, with particular reference to the instrumentation used.
The specific and high skills in electroacoustics and, in particular, in the field of electroacoustic characteristics of audio and video reproduction systems and in the methodologies applied for 3D Auralization (Ambisonics and Wave Field Synthesis) are specifically applied in environments used for immersive 3D rendering. CSA also supports and coordinates activities related to 360-degree video shooting in 3D space that involve the use of special equipment (360 cameras).
In particular, in the second part of the project, CSA , in collaboration with the CIRI EC and CIDEA team, will participate in measure in the opera houses of Emilia Romagna, including the Galli theater in Rimini, the Valli theater in Reggio Emilia and the house of music in Parma; the processing of the data obtained will allow the extraction of useful parameters for the characterization of the environments in order to obtain noise maps to visualize the spatialization of sound.

The CIRI EC team has developed a new method to measure the impulse response (IR Impulse Response) of the three-dimensional (3D) space of environments, which allows the complete characterization of sound propagation in closed spaces with respect to the measuring point.
It is aimed at creating images and videos that effectively represent the direction of origin of the reflections of the environment, memorizing these characteristics for posterity.
The method is based on IR measurements with the use of different microphone probes.
The first consists of a mono-directional microphone which allows to determine the conventional monaural acoustic parameters and is considered the "reference" microphone.
The second probe consists of a binaural microphone, it is used for binaural or stereo auralization.
The third probe consists of 4 microphones in B-format configuration, it is used for the auralization in Ambisonic format.
The fourth consists of a probe of 32 or 64 compact microphones, fixed on a spherical and cylindrical surface, is used to measure and reproduce higher-order 3D IR. By combining these four methods of spatial investigation, it is possible both to virtualize the reverberation with spatial resolution of the opera houses investigated, and to analyze the origin of all the first reflections with qualitative detail of the intensity and graphically superimposing them on 3D images.

The CIRI EC staff, within the SIPARIO Project , deals with the development of a listening room from different multi-channel sound reproduction systems. The systems are based on the reproduction of an acoustic field through different techniques: a bipole system, an Ambisonic system and a WFS (Wave Field Synthesis) system with 164 speakers.
Everything is managed through commercial PC and commercial sound cards, through MADI interface.

The SIPARIO project can count on a new methodology for carrying out acoustic measurements, developed by CIDEA , now used in all universities and research centers around the world. CIDEA has also developed new techniques for measuring the acoustic spatialization of theaters, based on microphone arrays, which also allowed the carrying out of 3D measurements in collaboration with CIRI EC carried out in UNESCO theaters and monuments.
CIDEA has developed a virtualization technique of the acoustic field, based on the 3DVMS method, within a research program carried out with the RAI Research Center in Turin.
The setting up of a listening room in Parma for the audio and video restitution of musical performances and the development of instrumentation and methodology for acoustic measurements in theaters, involves the involvement primarily of CIDEA , as well as CSA and CIRI EC .
CIDEA is also involved in the audio and video recordings of musical performances in the aforementioned Emilian theaters and in the design of the listening room, providing the necessary information for the design of the measurement chain and 360-degree 3D audio-video recording, choosing the new speakers needed for Wave Field Synthesis and immersive audio.

Within the SIPARIO project , the Consorzio Futuro in Ricerca , in continuity with its institutional activity and relying on many years of experience of participation in many research projects and dissemination of knowledge at national and community level deals with the implementation of activities for the dissemination and exploitation of results, which are not subject to IPR for companies, in order to obtain the greatest possible exploitation by the potential recipients identified in the course of Opera.