AES wraps International Conference on Automotive Audio

AES AutomotiveConference 02

The 2024 Audio Engineering Society (AES) 5th International Conference on Automotive Audio was a sold-out event, attracting record numbers of attendees and sponsors. The three-day conference, which took place June 26-28 at the Uni3 Geely Center in Gothenburg, Sweden, drew over 300 automotive audio professionals eager to experience the future of automotive sound through demos of the latest technology, interactive workshops, and presentations of peer-reviewed papers.

The event focused on how some of the most advanced sound technologies today are being developed and applied to automotive audio. Topics addressed included many of the new scientific disciplines in this still-emerging field, such as automotive audio applications of artificial intelligence, sound reproduction in cars, virtual acoustics, and voice and speech recognition technologies.

Keynote addresses featured Jonatan Ewald of Volvo discussing automotive audio trends from an OEM perspective, Dr. Xiajun Qiu from Huawei speaking on active noise control in automotive cabins, and Jan Skoglund of Google, who focused on “bringing immersive audio to the masses” using open formats for all types of audio developers and algorithms. The conference also boasted a first-ever on-site immersive audio room (provided by Genelec) that featured entertaining and educational presentations by Stefan Bock of MSM Studios and Morten Lindberg of 2L.

“The first branded audio system was put into an OEM-built automobile 20 years ago. The growth in the quality and the technology was evident then, and the vision for what would be the course for the next 15 to 20 years was becoming clear,” said Roger Shively, co-chair of the conference. “At this year’s conference, I was truly excited to see the maturity and overwhelming relevance of automotive audio in the modern application of cutting-edge technology and how it’s taking huge strides as a vital part of the futures of both the automotive and audio industries.”

“It was incredibly satisfying to see so many representatives from the automakers, cementing the AES conference as the place to be in the automotive audio world,” said Rafael Kassier, Shively’s conference co-chair. “We are proud this year’s conference appealed to a record number of professionals in the automotive audio field—and a robust waiting list. We also appreciate the overwhelmingly positive response to our outstanding technical program that gave invaluable insights on the future of automotive audio, featuring 15 papers and 12 workshops and tutorials. In addition, we thank our sponsors who helped us deliver an event with such high value and impact.”

Sponsors of the conference confirmed the positive response to the event. “We were happy to be part of the conference and to give the audience a glimpse of what we believe is the future of automotive audio – cars that are not only a place for entertainment but also a communication hub for natural conferencing,” said Sophia Emmert, senior product manager for automotive audio, Fraunhofer IIS. “Thanks to the great organization of the AES and all the participants who contributed to the great atmosphere!”

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