Intel Press Release

Intel Provides Developers the First All-Software Solution for Interactive 3D Sound and Effects On and Off the Net

With 3D RSX, PCs Produce Multiple Lifelike Sounds Positioned Relative to the User

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Mar. 31, 1997 -- Intel Corporation today made available on its website software that enables developers to bring three-dimensional, interactive sound to Internet applications, DVD players, 3D games and multimedia applications. Intel's 3D Realistic Sound Experience (3D RSX) produces lifelike effects through the use of a technology that adjusts the characteristics of a sound relative to the position of the listener. As a result, people whose PCs run applications with 3D RSX will perceive sound in all directions, not only to the front and sides but also above, below and to the rear.

Intel's 3D RSX uses just two speakers or a set of headphones to produce an experience similar to a surround experience in movie theaters. No additional hardware is required. To create this surround-type experience, 3D RSX uses HRTF (Head Related Transfer Function) technology. Based on academic research, HRTF mathematically simulates the way people hear sounds in the real world and then, through 3D RSX, transfers that experience to individual listeners through their computers.

Scaleable Performance, Enhanced for MMX™ Technology
Intel's 3D RSX is a software audio rendering library -- similar to a graphics rendering library. It takes advantage of Microsoft's DirectSound* to interface with existing PC sound hardware. Algorithm options designed into 3D RSX let developers scale audio effects to the speed of the computing platform. In addition, 3D RSX is enhanced for MMX™ technology, an Intel advancement that brings even greater multimedia capability to personal computing, delivering the highest 3D sound quality at low CPU utilization, and allowing a richer multimedia end user experience.

"The vast majority of people accessing the Internet and playing games today use PCs built on the Intel Architecture," said Gerald Holzhammer, director of Intel Architecture Labs. "Intel's goal is to help software developers create applications that deliver lifelike interactions with rich sound and images. The realistic sound of 3D RSX brings a new audio dimension – in fact three dimensions – to the exciting applications software developers are writing for PC users."

COM Interfaces, Java* Support, VRML 2.0 Compliance for Rich Applications
Intel's 3D RSX lets developers build media-rich applications that run today either inside an Internet browser or in a multimedia CD-ROM application. Versatile in its design, 3D RSX presents an easy-to-use, high level Component Object Model (COM) interface while still allowing low-level accesses for developers wanting greater control. Internet developers who use Microsoft's Java* SDK can easily incorporate the COM interfaces into Java applets for Microsoft's Internet Explorer* to provide powerful 3D sound to web applications.

In addition, 3D RSX supports the VRML 2.0 sound model, allowing VRML 2.0 - enabled browsers or plug-ins to deliver 3D sound. Currently, 3D RSX software is being used in the Windows *NT* and Windows 95* versions of Cosmo* Player, Silicon Graphics' VRML 2.0 browser. Netscape plans to include Cosmo Player as a component in versions of Netscape Communicator*.

"With Cosmo Player, Silicon Graphics lets users experience a Second Web that is more like the real world," said David Ferichs, VRML product line manager for Silicon Graphics. "By using Intel's 3D RSX we were able to easily add spatialized audio to enhance the user's VRML 2.0 experience."

Rich Features Plus Lifelike Sound Effects
Because 3D RSX is designed to be an effective developer's tool, it includes additional features ideal for a wide range of applications:

  • Streaming – In 3D RSX audio objects can accept and process real-time data. The software can efficiently handle multichannel streams with multiple channel rates.
  • Mixing – 3D RSX can function as a high-performance audio mixer, mixing multiple sound emitters of any sample rate in real time.
  • MIDI – 3D RSX accepts MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)-based sound emitters, so downloads take minutes instead of hours.

Intel also includes rich environmental effects in 3D RSX to enhance the overall end-user experience, including:

  • Reverberation – 3D RSX models room acoustics to simulate sound occurring in a confined space, like the rumbling of a train in a tunnel.
  • Doppler – 3D RSX automatically calculates the change in sound wave frequency resulting from relative motion between a sound source and listener, such as when a car whizzes past.

The robust design of 3D RSX has received high praised from early adopters. Dave Houston of Accolade Corporation said, "If we could design a 3D audio package it would be 3D RSX."

Enriching Consumer Experiences
Today's announcement is part of a larger Intel Internet media strategy. The goal of Intel's Internet media strategy is to bring PC users the best possible multimedia experience on the Internet. Intel intends to accomplish this goal through software in two ways. Intel will deliver ISVs state-of-the-art software building blocks in the form of popular developer technologies. In addition, Intel will scale its software components to the capabilities of the connection and the CPU to ensure the highest possible performance.

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