Sonic Architecture - MAXIS-Festival, April 2002

WORM is a collaborative project led by Scott Hawkins of the Dept. of Industrial Design, Sheffield Hallam University. It involves several other university research departments - Art, Design, Engineering, Computing, Psychology, Music Technology with commercial and private sponsorship which has led to the design and construction of a unique 3D Sound System entitled WORM. Inspired by the original Vortex Experimental Sound Theatre from America (last known performance 1957) WORM incorporates 40 speakers equi-spaced on the surface of a diameter, 10 Meter, geodesic hemisphere.
WORM offers control of 32 independent channels of audio to synthesise soundscape. Beyond a simple panorama, it employs sophisticated digital technologies control system, with knowledge of auditory perception (Peter Lennox), incorporating sound elevation, intensity and filtering effects to provide audience and performer the opportunity to perceive spatial renditions of a complete spherical (isotropic) sound field. Bruce Wiggins from the University of Derby, Audio Research Dept. gave technical support and wrote the software for real-time-decoding to the 40 channels.