When people think of Virtual Reality they immediately imagine seeing a virtual world full of sights and sensations not available in reality, but they almost never think of the sound. Ford has found a new use for Virtual Reality in using it to create the “Virtual Vehicle Sound Simulator” to test out various automotive noises on future prototype cars.
“We create an array of 76 different simulated sounds from data gathered about the proposed vehicle,” said Clapper. “We consider body shape and powertrain design under various road conditions and speeds. When we drive the simulator, it’s amazing how we’re able to recognize sounds with our ears that we would have never picked up otherwise from that mountain of data.”
