Occupying a total area of 2,396 m2, the Kazakh pavilion at this year’s World Expo - Expo Milano 2015 - aims to introduce visitors to the theme of protecting natural and agricultural resources, culture and the idea of sustainable development. The centerpiece of the pavilion is the Main Show, an immersive 3D stereo full dome theater supplied by Munich-based dome technologies developer Sky-Skan Europe. Under the 15 meter domed projection screen, visitors are whisked away on a virtual flight over Kazakhstan’s vast and magnificent landscape, passing cornfields, canyons, wild horses and other animals, to land safely in the Kazakh capital Astana, where World Expo 2017 will take place. To fully envelope the audience in the experience, Sky-Skan created a spatial audio environment with an IOSONO sound system by Barco Audio Technologies.

Crystal-clear sound, anywhere in the room
The 42.4 speaker audio installation uses the IOSONO CORE audio processor and loudspeakers from Fohhn Audio that are arranged in four layers for full acoustic immersion. Resulting from years of research and experience, the IOSONO CORE processor delivers immersive high-quality audio based on IOSONO’s world-famous wave field synthesis technology (WFS). The CORE processor allows sounds to be moved within a defined space with unparalleled precision, resulting in a crystal-clear perception of sounds emanating from the dome screen of the theater – no matter where visitors sit or stand. Sound content creation for the CORE hardware processor, which was done by German company listen!, is made easy with IOSONO's Spatial Audio Workstation software. Sky-Skan took care of the audio-video systems integration in the Main Show, being commissioned by the German agency facts and fiction who was responsible for the architecture, design, content and construction of the complete pavilion.

Third World Expo with IOSONO sound
“Barco’s IOSONO products provide not only a captivating sound experience but are also very reliable, which is important in an environment like this,” says Glenn Smith, Managing Director of Sky-Skan Europe. “We are confident that the sound set-up will help touch the audience emotionally and physically.” “This is the third time that Sky-Skan and Iosono have collaborated on a World Expo experience and we are certainly seeing increased interest in immersive sound in the visitor attractions market,” says Olaf Stepputat, Director of Barco Audio Technologies. “We look forward to future projects in this field and I’m positive this won’t be the last World Expo with IOSONO sound.”