How can spatial audio be made more immersive, precise, and impactful?

This Starts Lab workshop explores the concept of multilayer spatial audio and the Ambisonics format by bringing together two exceptional listening environments: the fixed 12-channel Dolby Atmos system of the Starts Lab hybrid studio and the 25-channel Oamk Sound Dome.

During the workshop, participants will explore how loudspeakers positioned at different heights and across multiple layers influence spatial perception and the sense of depth in sound reproduction. Ambisonics technology enables the recording and playback of a three-dimensional sound field, and participants will have the opportunity to experiment with how the Sound Dome and Starts Lab systems operate together within this framework.

The day includes expert presentations, practical listening experiments, and hands-on opportunities to explore immersive audio production in an exceptionally extensive loudspeaker environment.

Research into multilayer spatial audio has become an increasingly important area within music technology, spatial composition, and immersive media. Similar multi-level loudspeaker systems are used internationally in electronic music festivals, research facilities, and immersive media productions, where the vertical dimension of sound plays a key role in shaping the listening experience.

The workshop is led by Lauri Marjakangas, senior lecturer in Music Technology (Oamk).

The workshop will take place on Saturday, 26 September 2026, from 10:00 to 15:00 at the Oamk Starts Lab hybrid studio on the Linnanmaa campus of Oulu University of Applied Sciences.

Participation is free of charge, but the number of places is limited. Please reserve your place through this website.

• Learn more about STARTS LAB Oulu on the project website.
• Instructions for arriving and parking at our Linnanmaa campus, see Oamk website.
• Location of the STARTS LAB hybrid studio on the MazeMap campus navigator.

The workshop is organized as part of the STARTS LAB Oulu project. STARTS LAB Oulu combines science, technology and the arts in our state‑of‑the‑art hybrid studio, which offers opportunities to develop and test immersive content, virtual sets, and digital twins. The studio features the latest AR and VR solutions, tools for virtual film production, and innovations in digital storytelling.