Audio Productivity in Mixed Reality

Presenters:
Sally Kellaway, Microsoft - Seattle, WA, USA
Joe Kelly, Microsoft

Hearing is a human sense that subconsciously enables humans to detect and categorize stimulus to make decisions and take actions. Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality has allowed audio designers and developers in general to explore what framework of audio is needed to have mostly entertainment focused immersive experiences. This has enabled users to have an immense capacity for understanding and empathy with a myriad of experiences. In enterprise scenarios there are a vast array of industries that deploy immersive technologies to expedite workflows, however, enterprise technology has historically focused on productivity at the expense of experience and has never before needed to factor in the complexity of the environment of the experience to this extent. The audio team developing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Mixed Reality applications has spent 2+ years refining a framework for audio productivity in MR, and will discuss a number of approaches to designing and implementing audio features for enterprise and consumer applications where productivity of the user is the goal.