Hi SeekBeakers,

We’ve just rolled over another new feature for all tiers, previously mainly seen in Flash based virtual tour plugins: Spatial Audio via Head Related Transfer Functions!

* crickets *

In layman terms: You now have the option to use an Audio Hotspot as a speaker. Moving “away” from that speaker will sound like if you had done it in real life. The sound will change so it appears to be coming from beside you, behind you, above you, etc. This isn’t simple panning left and right either, this technique is becoming a staple of Virtual Reality, and works best on headphones.

Like the whole SeekBeak interface, we’ve tried to make this as easy and intuitive as we can. I’ve done up a quick 2 minute video so you can see (and hear!) how this works on desktop, mobile and in VR for GearVR / Google Cardboard:

Caveat: If you are going to be using this feature, please be aware of your clients/users on mobile. Loading multiple large audio files on mobiles can easily use all their available memory, and can crash their browser. Please audio responsibly.

Of course there are always the bug fixes and tweaks we add along the way. One of the more requested features was the ability to upload images directly into groups you’d created. Next time you see the “Create a Snap” page, you’ll have the ability to do just that! Stay tuned as we’re expanding on the whole “Snap Groups” concept in the near future…

Finally, If you’re in Montreal on November 10th, I’ll be speaking at Mutek Img about Sound Spatialization and Virtual Composing, and will be using SeekBeak as one of the use cases. Come and say hi!

As always, please let us know what you think! If you have any feedback, whether it’s good, or more on the constructive side, please send it our way.

Till next time!

Tim Allan
Founder