Cinema Sound Pioneer Receives Academy Award Based on Research in an ERC

Dr. Ulrich Neumann, University of Southern California, EEC-9529152

Sound pioneer Tomlinson Holman, developer of the Lucasfilm THX Sound System© used in thousands of movie theaters, recently received a 2001 Academy Award Certificate for Technical Achievement recognizing his more than two decades of research as an audio engineer at the forefront of movie theater acoustics and speaker technology. Now a professor at the Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC) at the University of Southern California, Holman is focusing on the next generation of cinema sound, especially the 10.2-channel surround sound system. The 10.2 system, designed for public and home theater use, uses 12 speakers in 10 locations, plus two subwoofers, to create a better sense of aural immersion.

Setup of the 10.2-channel surround sound system, an immersive audio system being developed at NSF's Integrated Media Systems Center at the University of Southern California Note: This was taken from OLPA's web news item at: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/tip020506.htm#second

"Here is where we can push the scientific envelope," said Holman of the Immersive Audio Lab, where he conducts his research. "Many people who hear of 10.2-channel sound say its crazy . . . that's exactly where we should be. Then when they actually hear it, they're astounded."