Spatial Audio in AR

Overview

Spatial Audio is when audio in your AR scene comes from a specific direction or location as opposed to audio at the same levels in both ears. Spatial Audio helps give the user clues on where the sound is coming from, further immersing them in their AR experience. For example, if there is a button on the left side of the scene that should click when being pressed, Spatial Audio allows for the click to be louder in the user's left ear, giving them further information about where the sound is coming from and mimicking how we hear sounds in the physical world. Spatial Audio is not only used in AR but it is commonly used with music, movies, television, and video games.

Platforms that Support Spatial Audio Functionality

Each of the below development platforms allows for some level of spatial audio to be added to a scene with the goal of increasing user immersion and user experience by giving users more information on where a noise is coming from, as they would hear in reality.

Unity

Spatial Audio can be added to a scene by using the Spatial Audio Meta Building Block (tutorial below). Unity also provides Spatial Audio functionality in a scene through the Audio Spatializer SDK.

A-Frame

A-Frame has Spatial Audio functionality through launching and using atmoky Spatial Audio.

Adobe Aero

Adobe Aero allows developers to add audio to specific digital assets, helping to immerse users in the AR experience.

Apple iOS ARKit

Through a developer using the ARKit in iOS, audio can be added to scenes to add extra layers of immersion and enhance user experience.

Requirements For Spatial Audio in Unity using Meta Building Blocks

Meta Quest 3
- Device setup for developing:
  - https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/native/android/mobile-device-setup/
Unity installed
- Additional set up tutorial: Set up Unity for XR development
  - https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/unity-project-setup
Meta XR All-in-One SDK installed
- Add as an asset to your Unity account
- Once in Unity, navigate to Package Manager and install All-in-One SDK

Spatial Audio with meta Building Blocks Tutorial

In your menu, select Meta > Tools > Building Blocks.
The Meta Building Blocks will appear in a pop up window, scroll through the options to find Spatial Audio or search for it in the search bar. Add Spatial Audio to your scene.
As Spatial Audio allows the user to hear a sound in relation to a specific location, position the Spatial Audio game object to where you would like the user to hear from.
1. To do so, select the Spatial Audio game object in the Hierarchy, choose the Move tool on your scene, and shift the object to your desired location. Consider how near or far you desire the noise to be coming from as well as what ear it should be louder in.
In the Inspector, add your audio to the object through the Audio Resource. The Inspector provides additional customizations like Loop and Play on Awake that you can select.

Additional Resources

Spatial Audio overview and definition by Dolby
- https://www.dolby.com/experience/home-entertainment/articles/what-is-spatial-audio/#howdoesitwork
A-Frame Spatial Audio
- https://www.8thwall.com/atmoky/spatialaudio-robot
Adobe AR Audio Design
- https://www.adobe.com/learn/aero/web/augmented-reality-audio-design-aero?locale=en&learnIn=1
- https://www.adobe.com/products/aero.html
Apple iOS ARKit Audio
- https://developer.apple.com/documentation/arkit/creating-an-immersive-ar-experience-with-audio

Added by: Colby Rees (2025)