Dolby Laboratories and immersive virtual reality and 360° video company, Littlstar have announced that Dolby Atmos audio will available through the Littlstar VR application in the Oculus store, SteamVR, Apple App Store and Google Play store this Autumn.
At launch, Littlstar will feature three pieces of Dolby Atmos content from Light Sail VR, Studio Transcendent, and Bento Box Entertainment, comprising the following titles: Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension 360, Rapid Fire: A Brief History of Flight and Bob’s Burgers 360—Dancin’.
All a user need do is install the Littlstar application and run it on supported playback devices with a VR head-mounted display, including a supported Windows 10 PC with Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, a Samsung Galaxy smartphone with Samsung Gear VR or a supported iOS or Android device with Google Cardboard.
“Littlstar has always been at the forefront of developing the best VR experiences for viewers,” says Tony Mugavero, CEO and founder, Littlstar. “By being among the first to incorporate Dolby Atmos into a global VR content network for distribution, consumers as well as studios, brands, and content owners using Littlstar will have access to the best VR-optimised spatial audio in the industry.”
Dolby and Littlstar collaborated to incorporate Dolby Atmos for VR applications – a software development kit (SDK) that includes the VR-specific Dolby Atmos decoder and headphone renderer – into the Littlstar application across all major VR platforms.
Littlstar’s encoding infrastructure has been enhanced to support Dolby Atmos as an audio format for immersive videos. Dolby Atmos content can be created using the Dolby Atmos VR Production Suite, now in beta, which allows content creators to precisely place audio objects, move sound anywhere in a scene, choose options for head tracking, and, ultimately, guide viewers through a more compelling VR story.
“Dolby is committed to providing the most breathtaking experiences in media old and new,” adds John Couling, senior vice president, E-Media Business Group, Dolby Laboratories. “With the integration of Dolby Atmos in the Littlstar App, a new dimension of audio is unlocked for audiences, and VR experiences feel more visceral than ever before.”