The inaugural Olympic Esports Week featured L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound during its opening and closing ceremonies. This four-day event, held at Singapore’s Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre, included various gaming formats such as console, mobile, and PC games, as well as VR sports like taekwondo, cycling, and archery.
The event’s production was overseen by the local live-event and theater company, Presplay. Sound designer Jeffrey Yue from Ctrl Fre@k was entrusted with creating the immersive audio experience. The main stage had three expansive LED screens that spanned its entire width, and Yue needed to design a sound system that would complement these elements without obstructing the audience’s view.
Yue faced the challenges of the wide audience seating area and the venue’s height limitations. To address these issues, he devised an L-ISA immersive loudspeaker configuration using smaller hangs positioned above the wide screens. This setup provided the opening and closing ceremonies with the full benefits of spatial sound, creating an immersive atmosphere suitable for a top-tier gaming experience.
The ceremonies featured both in-person and virtual speeches from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Singaporean dignitaries, along with dance performances and musical sets. Yue recognized that L-ISA spatial technology would deliver an impressive audio experience for an audience accustomed to the latest audio and visual technology. He explained that, in the gaming world, audio is immersive, and gamers rely on a combination of music and sound effects that envelop them in their headsets during gameplay. It was only natural to provide live gaming audiences with immersive audio.
Yue proposed a system design that included five hangs of L-Acoustics A15 Focus and Wide each, with four KS21 subwoofers flown in the center as the main stage system. Nine L-Acoustics X12 boxes encircled the audience seating area to provide a 360° immersive audio experience. The entire system was provided and implemented by J5 Productions.
Yue prepared content using L-ISA Studio on his laptop, and his mixes were then fine-tuned in the L-ISA Auditoria at Concept Systems, a Singapore-based L-Acoustics certified provider distributor. He began creating the immersive mix while the main stage was under construction and completed it on the L-Acoustics A Series-based L-ISA configuration at the venue.
Yue expressed confidence in the system’s ability to deliver dynamic sound suitable for the diverse content needs of both esports and the event programs. Beatrice Chia-Richmond, Presplay’s creative director, commended Yue’s technical expertise, which allowed them to meet the IOC’s requirements and captivate the audience at this inaugural global esports event.