Experience with a virtual reality auralization of Notre-Dame Cathedral

As part of the 850-year anniversary of Notre-Dame cathedral, Paris, there was a special performance of “La Vierge.” A close-mic recording of the concert was made by the Conservatoire de Paris. In an attempt to provide a new type of experience, a virtual recreation of the performance using these roughly 45 audio channels was made via auralization. A computational acoustic model was created and calibrated based on in-situ measurements for reverberation and clarity parameters. A perceptual study with omnidirectional source and binaural receiver validated the calibrated simulation for the tested subjective attributes of reverberation, clarity, source distance, tonal balance, coloration, plausibility, ASW, and LEV when compared to measured responses. Instrument directivity was included for each track's representative orchestral section based on published data. Higher-Order Ambisonic (3rd order) RIRs were generated for all source and receiver combinations using the CATT-Acoustic TUCT software. Virtual navigation throughout a visual 3D rendering of the cathedral during the concert was made possible using an immersive rendering architecture with BlenderVR, MaxMSP, and Oculus Rift HMD. We present major elements of this project: calibration, perceptual study, system architecture, lessons learned, and technological limits encountered with regards to such an ambitious undertaking. [Previously presented in part at EuroRegio2016 & FISM2016.]