Queen's University partner DTS in £1m sound contract

A £1 million partnership between Queen’s University’s Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) and world-leading Californian digital technology company DTS (Digital Theater Systems, Inc.) has been announced in Belfast.

Jointly funded by development agency Invest Northern Ireland, the project will focus on the development of new multi-channel audio technologies. SARC will conduct joint research and experimentation with DTS’ Research and Development facility in Bangor.

Paul Smith, Vice President, Research and Development for DTS, said: “The Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen’s is quickly becoming one of the world’s leading research institutes in the area of multi-channel audio systems, and DTS has always been a company dedicated to developing new audio technologies.

“Working together is a natural fit, and we look forward to integrating our resources for this project.”

SARC Director Professor Michael Alcorn added: “DTS is a renowned innovator in digital surround sound across many industries – including cinema, consumer electronics and professional audio. Collaborating with DTS to discover new applications and create new audio technologies represents an exciting challenge for all of us in the Centre.”

Dedicated to the research of music technology, the £4.5 million Sonic Arts Research Centre is a newly-established facility within Queen’s. The only centre of its type in the United Kingdom or Ireland, it was one of four projects at the University to receive funding under the first phase of Northern Ireland’s Support Programme for University Research (SPUR) initiative.

Uniting internationally recognised experts in the fields of music, electronic engineering and computer science, the unique interdisciplinary centre houses a 50-person research team and a state-of-the-art sonic laboratory. The auditorium is the only fully 3D studio of its kind for sonic art performance and experimentation.

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