Movie theaters offer immersive cinema experiences that online streaming services cannot match, but that edge might be eroding due to an audio technology developed by a Taiwanese entrepreneur.
Iris Wu (吳采頤), the founder of Los Angeles-based sound company Ambidio, said that the technology can create a multi-dimensional sound field with added depth for videos played on any mobile phone, laptop computer, or TV with stereo speakers without the need for expensive equipment.
“It’s like going from a black-and-white canvas to a colored one in terms of sound experience,” the 33-year-old said.
Wu’s software technology is backed by Grammy award-winning artist Will.I.am and Horizons Ventures, the private investment firm of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠).
Ambidio, cofounded by Wu and her childhood friend Hsieh Pei-lun (謝沛倫) in 2014, has also enlisted Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Sound, one of Hollywood’s largest audio post-production companies, as a strategic adviser.
“We want to help make artists better story-tellers so that the stories they tell are more convincing,” Wu said.
The technology works in one of two ways, she said.
It can either be directly embedded into movie and audio files, or be applied when the files are uploaded online and played on a streaming service provider in real time.
In either case, the consumer cannot buy the technology to improve the sound of videos they are watching. Instead, it would be up to the content creators to use the software and give viewers the immersive experience they are looking for.
Many have already done that to test viewer feedback, and indications are that viewers are noticing the difference, Wu said.
She cannot disclose the names of the content creators because of confidentiality agreements signed with them, as they gather their own feedback online, but those interested in sampling the sounds for themselves can find clips on Ambidio’s Web site (www.ambidio.co).
Wu said that Hollywood’s “Big Six” film studios are using Ambidio software more frequently for their streaming services, and the company is getting involved in more diverse projects, whether they be movies, music or sports events.
She has also reached out to the Taiwanese market.
Her first joint project would be a 10-episode coming-of-age TV series titled The Magician on the Skywalk, which is to start airing on the Public Television Service (PTS) in February.
Ambidio ultimately hopes to emerge as the sound standard for the entertainment industry, with its brand name as common a fixture in the business as the ubiquitous Dolby label is today.
The idea to create the technology came up when Wu was pursuing her master’s degree in music technology at New York University from 2012 to 2014, she said.
Frustrated by her inability to create quality sound for her master’s project in her own small apartment, Wu began experimenting with sound engineering through code rather than hardware and the technology gradually took shape.
After 18 months of exploration, Wu found the key is to trick the brain.
“No matter how many speakers you have, at the end of the day, you only have two ears to receive the sounds,” she said.
Given that limitation, Wu started inserting common cues — including differences in timing, wave forms and resonance — into audio files that the brain uses to identify and perceive where different sounds within the audio stream are coming from.
By manipulating the brain, her technology has evolved to offer a range at least three times wider than conventional methods for simulating 3D sound.
Wu’s audio technology won her an Honorable Mention in last year’s Engineering Excellence Award from the Hollywood Professional Association, a trade association established by major post-production facilities and manufacturers.
Last month, she helped veteran Taiwanese film re-recording mixer and Palme d’Or winner Tu Duu-Chih (杜篤之) speak at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers’ Annual Conference, the first Mandarin speaker ever at the century-old organization’s annual event.
“There are some good stories in Mandarin-language films that the world doesn’t know about,” Wu said, adding that by connecting Tu to the technology and the world, the cultural heritage embedded in Taiwanese films, such as vivid cooking sounds that have drawn Hollywood’s attention, can be shared more widely.
Wu said that she owes her success to good luck and persistence in pursuing her interest.
A zealous guitarist since high school, Wu joined bands and taught in a musical instrument shop after graduating from college, a meandering path that only fueled her determination to follow a music-related career.
“Dare to dream and dare to explore,” she said. “The Taiwanese people have a lot of potential.”
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS