Audio Technology students are treated to online webinar with a top audio industry figure

Audio Technology students at GCU were invited to engage in an industry talk with an audio perception expert from Facebook Reality Labs.

Students from Audio Technology had the opportunity to take part in an online webinar with Dr Owen Brimijoin; Auditory Perception Lead at Facebook Reality Labs.

Facebook Labs focus on developing virtual reality as a tool to connect with people virtually. Dr Owen is working on spatial hearing, motion perception and some of the most novel cutting edge augmented reality devices in the world.

4th year Audio Technology student Jack McAuley found the event to be very informative. He said: “I thought the talk was incredibly interesting and Owen was very informative during his presentation; especially the Q&A at the end where he was able to provide meaningful and insightful answers to the audiences questions.

It has definitely made me more interested in working in the field. The benefits this technology will provide were made much more apparent.”

4th year Audio Technology student Evelien Rommelaere thoroughly enjoyed taking part. She said: “I found the event to be very insightful. Owen is very good at breaking down complex topics in a comprehensive way. He was also very excited about the topic, which made listening to the talk really great.

I think it's amazing our lecturers organised something like this, especially during COVID . It was a nice chance to get our course together and have some community time. It was also great motivation for future work. Considering the COVID situation is quite daunting for final year students, it's nice to hear of someone currently successfully working in the industry.”

She added: “Owen was very enthusiastic about his work and that was definitely infectious. It also gave us a peak at what research in the field looks like.

He was very motivating about going into this area and definitely made me consider it more.”

Senior Audio Technology lecturer Dr David Moore was really happy with the success of the event. He said: “The online guest lecture by Dr Owen Brimijoin gave Audio Technology students some spectacular insights into cutting edge spatial sound perception research.
 
It also brought together our students from across all academic levels. We are planning further activities this year that will facilitate this”.

Find out more about Facebook Reality Labs on their website

By Rachael McAlonan

Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media