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What Is Sound Tracing?

Sound Tracing is a technology for physically simulating the acoustic propagation paths from sound sources to listeners in a virtual space. It is the acoustic counterpart of ray tracing in graphics: reflections, diffraction, absorption, and related phenomena are handled geometrically to reproduce the characteristic sound of a space.

What It Solves​

  • Spatial sound: Generates impulse responses (IRs) from spatial information such as geometry and materials, so the same source sounds different in a cave, concert hall, or alley.
  • Real-time response: Updates IRs when the listener, source, or environment changes, with latency suitable for games, VR, and simulators.
  • Physics-based consistency: Uses results derived directly from geometry instead of heuristic reverb presets, so it adapts naturally as the scene changes.

How It Works​

  1. Scene input: Receives meshes, materials (absorption/transmission), source positions, and listener positions.
  2. Path tracing: Searches acoustic propagation paths in a ray-tracing-like way, with acoustic-specific algorithms such as plane-based backtracking, coplane handling, and boundary detection.
  3. IR synthesis: Collects time, attenuation, and direction information from arrival paths and synthesizes an impulse response.
  4. Convolution: Convolves the IR with the source signal to produce the final output.

Next Steps​