A week ago, I attended the “Sonic Days” seminar sponsored by Dolby at Sonic College in Kolding, Denmark.

It was truly inspiring to meet other talented sound designers from various fields, including cinema, music, live theater, gaming, radio, and other media.

The seminar featured different sessions and showcased new audio technologies. One common theme ran through all these diverse media: the immersive sound offered by Dolby Atmos, which is object-based.

This isn’t the first time I’ve discussed this audio format on my blog. Released eleven years ago in 2012, we have recently seen this technology not only in cinema but also in music production. It was exciting to listen to different albums mixed in Dolby Atmos.

I find myself asking:

• Are we fully exploring the potential of this audio format?
• How can this powerful, new, object-based multichannel audio format, Dolby Atmos, enhance sound design and storytelling in modern cinema?

Over the last decade here in Europe, we’ve seen only a few movies truly exploring the potential of this object-based multichannel audio format.

A sonic future is emerging for cinema.