The Mythical Immersive Audio Format and the Future of Cinema Sound

Few words are as overused by the cinema industry as the word immersive. We at Dolby are perhaps guiltier than most. We’ve used the term in dozens of press releases and marketing materials, most recently when describing Dolby Atmos. Immersive seemed like a good word to describe a cinema sound experience so lifelike that moviegoers felt as if they were immersed in the very environment where the film took place. It suited the radical new approach of Dolby Atmos to audio: one that placed and moved sound objects to create a virtual reality of sound in the auditorium itself.