Kraftwerk Living Technologies (KLT) chose ENCIRCLED’s IOSONO spatial audio system to help power the ‘Flyover’ simulation flight attraction in Chicago, USA.
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The Flyover is an immersive experience of the city of Chicago that was opened in March 2024 by Pursuit at Navy Pier and has already been ‘mesmerising thousands’ of people, according to a press release by Kraftwerk.
The audio visual (AV) systems integrator revealed that it was also leveraging the IOSONO’s calibration management, content playback, and live input rendering capabilities to upgrade another system in Vancouver, Canada.
Kevin Murphy, Senior VP Sales and Business Development at Kraftwerk Living Technologies, explained what a crucial part ENCIRCLED played in innovating the Flyover’s audio-visual technology:
“ENCIRCLED played a pivotal role by planning the loudspeaker layout, selecting appropriate speaker types, configuring the software on the spatial audio processor, and conducting acoustic calibration post initial speaker tuning by KLT.
“ENCIRCLED optimised loudspeaker directional aiming, assisted with the fine tuning of the system to meet the requirements of the ENCIRCLED processor and workflow tuning, and supported the content production process for future adaptation of content or new movies to IOSONO’s object-based format.”
The Flyover Upgrade
To showcase the city’s iconic landmarks, the Flyover constructed a 61-seat theatre and created a Brogent ride system; electrical motion seating to make the experience feel more realistic.
Chicago’s Flyover team also reached out to professionals from major vendors within the audio-visual industry to get the attraction up and running, including TechMD, KLT, and Master’s Digital.
As well as integrating IOSONO into the mix of AV technologies, KLT implemented a multichannel loudspeaker design capable of delivering a custom soundscape.
This included 34 JBL AM7215 speakers located next to the 435 square metre Endurescreens’ screen and four 2x 18-inch JBL ASB7128 subwoofers on the floor with Crown DCiDA series Dante enabled amplifiers.
Eric Sambell, Global Director, Construction and Entertainment Technology, outlined the kind of solution that they were looking for : “We wanted a simple system that could be used across our attractions, one that could provide a breathtaking audio experience for our guests and a consistent workflow for our content and technical teams.”
KLT shared that one of its challenges had related to content playback. Fortunately, this had been overcome thanks to IOSONO’s Spatial Audio Workstation, which operates multichannel content like virtual speakers, enabling each channel position to be exactly matched to speakers currently deployed for different simulated flights.
New content will have the advantage of using an object-based workflow, which ultimately leads to a better sound quality and simplified content transfers.
Max Röhrbein, Joint Managing Director at ENCIRCLED, was pleased that its technology had been chosen for the attraction: “ENCIRCLED are extremely proud to be part of this project and grateful for the trust placed in us to support the design of the loudspeaker setup for the main show.
“With over 10 previous flight ride installations around the globe, we brought valuable knowledge to the table and contributed confidently to the acoustical design of this state-of-the-art flight ride attraction system.”
KLT believes that the IOSONO spatial audio system “sets a new standard” for audio and versatility when it comes to flight simulations.
