WED 14TH JAN 2026, 4.15PM, KINGS BLDG KIN G13

Lorenzo Picinali, Professor at Imperial College London gives talk at King’s Strand campus as part of the MARC Seminar Series, refreshments courtesy of the NMES Research Culture Fund.

If you are unable to attend in person, you may use the following MS Teams link to attend the event virtually: MARC Seminar Talk – Lorenzo Picinali | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

Title: I didn’t expect that… or maybe I secretly did: surprises in immersive audio research

Abstract: Can we really learn to adapt to altered spatial hearing cues—such as a new Head-Related Transfer Function—in just a few short 10-minute sessions using tracked headphones? Ten years ago, almost everyone in the field would have confidently answered “yes.” But today, the evidence tells a more nuanced story.

Likewise, we might expect spatial hearing performance—such as sound localization and spatial release from masking—to be superior when sound is reproduced through a loudspeaker array rather than via an HRTF-based headphone simulation. Yet, recent findings challenge this assumption too, revealing some rather surprising results.

Speaker’s bio: I am a Professor in Spatial Acoustics and Immersive Audio, and I lead the Audio Experience Design research group within the Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial. My current work includes SONICOM, looking at developing the next generation of immersive audio technologies using AI; BEARS, looking at helping teenagers with bilateral cochlear implants using a VR-based auditory training approach; as well as other projects focused on exploring spatial hearing mechanisms, developing spatial acoustics and immersive audio technologies, and using these in real-life applications.