Towards a Shared Spatial Audio Design Space: Promoting Space as a First-Class Parameter through Object-Based Authoring Tools

Designers have long used spatial audio for both functional and aesthetic purposes to create impactful user experiences across a broad range of applications. When considering actual design practice, however, the spatial characteristics of sound are often determined in a later step of the design process. We argue that this introduces frictions that prevent practitioners from making the most of the medium. In this paper, we therefore explore how audio authoring tools can facilitate the design of spatial behavior alongside, and simultaneous to, other sound characteristics. To do so, we interviewed creative practitioners with spatial audio expertise to gain insight into how they collaborate and iterate to achieve their design goals. Following a Research-through-Design approach, we then applied the emerging themes to the design of an object-based spatial synthesizer. We reflect on lessons learned throughout its iterative development and discuss the challenges and opportunities of object-based spatial audio authoring tools.