Fraunhofer upHear Flexible Rendering and WiSA E Wireless Audio Software

WiSA Technologies Inc. describes the technologies it will be presenting together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS and StreamUnlimited Engineering GmbH at CES 2024 in Las Vegas as a revolution for home audio, namely Fraunhofer upHear Flexible Rendering based on WiSA E Wireless Audio Software.

This partnership heralds a new era of audio enjoyment in the home by enabling immersive audio experiences without the need for fixed speaker placement or specific audio content requirements. The technology enables consumers to enjoy high-quality immersive audio more comfortably in their homes, according to the promise of the three companies involved in this project.

Immersive audio, a market with a bright future?

Immersive audio has been a ubiquitous buzzword for some time now, and not just in the area of film sound, but increasingly also for conventional music. Users should be able to experience music in a completely new, particularly intense way, as advocates of this trend are constantly saying.

The companies WiSA Technologies Inc, Fraunhofer IIS and StreamUnlimited Engineering GmbH are also using precisely these arguments to support their new collaboration, whereby ma, as already mentioned, is even talking about a completely new era, a true revolution.

Fraunhofer upHear Flexible Rendering

Fraunhofer upHear Flexible Rendering, developed by Fraunhofer IIS, is designed to bring immersive audio experiences to any room without the limitations of fixed speaker placement or audio source content. The combination of WiSA Multichannel Wireless Audio Transport and Fraunhofer upHear Flexible Rendering, integrated by StreamUnlimited Engineering GmbH into the Stream1955 streaming audio module, represents a whole new era in home audio, freeing it from the wired limitations that previously restricted spatial audio to high-end systems in dedicated home cinema rooms.

Thanks to fundamental technologies such as WiSA E and Fraunhofer upHear Flexible Rendering, spatial audio will now be conveniently accessible to all consumers.

“During Fraunhofer’s over 30 years of experience in the field of audio technology, our goal has always been to develop new and innovative audio algorithms that bring additional benefit to the market. With the WiSA Association, which has more than 70 members, many of which are global speaker brands, and its multi-channel wireless audio transport software WiSA E, WiSA has the wireless technology to bring upHear to market.”

Sebastian Meyer, Product Manager at Fraunhofer IIS for Fraunhofer upHear Flexible Rendering

Flexible rendering

Specifically, Fraunhofer upHear Flexible Rendering offers the advantage that intelligent customisation can be carried out to enable an appealing immersive sound experience even based on random speaker positions in the room. All relevant audio formats are supported to enable a true 3D sound experience, as the three partners report. In addition, content can also be played back in immersive audio that is not designed for this, as it was produced or mixed in 5.1 channel or even just stereo and therefore 2.0. A corresponding advanced upmix is designed to achieve this with appealing results.

“For far too long, consumers have had to place multiple speakers in very specific locations in the room for immersive audio. WiSA’s wireless high-definition audio transport, utilising Fraunhofer’s upHear technology, breaks this paradigm and gives consumers the ability to enjoy high-quality immersive audio with fewer speakers located anywhere in the room.”

Tony Parker, Vice President of Business Development and Strategy, WiSA Technologies Inc.

Getting to the point

Once again, a revolution is being proclaimed in the field of immersive audio, this time led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, which wants to unleash this revolution around Fraunhofer upHear Flexible Rendering and present a new era together with its partners WiSA Technologies Inc. and StreamUnlimited Engineering GmbH at CES 2024. StreamUnlimited Engineering GmbH is supplying the hardware, which is based on the WiSA wireless audio signal transmission standard developed by WiSA Technologies Inc. and the WiSA E wireless audio software.