Thomas Perez-Pape

Exploring How Immersive Audio Transforms Live Concert Experiences

Sonic College is proud to share that our staff member, Dr. Birgitte Folmann, presented her latest research paper, Altering the Immersive Potential: The Case of the Heilung Concert at Roskilde Festival, at the 160th AES International Convention (AES Europe 2026) in Copenhagen.

The paper investigates how immersive audio systems influence audience experiences in large-scale live music events, using the acclaimed Heilung concert at Roskilde Festival 2024 as a case study.

Beyond the Technology

Immersive audio technologies are becoming increasingly common in concerts, festivals, and live productions. While much existing research focuses on the technical aspects of spatial audio systems, Dr. Folmann’s work explores a different question:

How do audiences actually experience immersive sound?

To answer this, the study combines audio engineering, artistic research, anthropology, and phenomenology. The research examines not only how immersive sound systems operate, but how they affect perception, emotion, bodily awareness, and social interaction during a live performance.

The Heilung Concert as a Research Case

The study focuses on Heilung’s immersive performance in Roskilde Festival’s Arena Tent, a venue capable of accommodating more than 17,000 audience members. The concert employed a large-scale multichannel audio system featuring front, surround, and overhead loudspeaker arrays, creating a highly immersive sonic environment.

Extensive technical preparation was carried out before the event, including acoustic simulations, scaled system testing, timing optimization, and immersive mix translation from studio to festival scale.

Alongside the technical work, audience experiences were documented through interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and immersive field recordings.

An great video about the Heilung concert is available at Meyers Sounds website, that can be viewed here:

Immersion as a Shared Experience

One of the study’s key findings is that immersive audio does far more than simply surround listeners with sound.

Audience members described feeling physically connected to the music through vibrations, movement, and a heightened sense of presence. Many reported a feeling of being “inside” the performance rather than simply watching it from a distance.

Interestingly, the immersive format also appeared to strengthen social engagement. Participants frequently described increased awareness of the people around them, a shared attentiveness, and a collective sense of participation in the event.

Rather than functioning as a purely technical enhancement, immersive audio became part of a larger atmosphere created through the interaction of sound, visuals, architecture, performance, and audience presence.

Expanding the Understanding of Immersive Audio

The paper argues that understanding immersive concerts requires perspectives beyond traditional audio engineering. While technical frameworks can explain how immersive systems create spatial effects, they cannot fully explain how audiences interpret, feel, and find meaning in these experiences.

By combining engineering knowledge with anthropological and phenomenological approaches, the research contributes to a growing understanding of immersive audio as both a technological and human experience.

Presented at AES Europe 2026

The Audio Engineering Society Convention is one of the world’s leading forums for audio research and innovation, bringing together researchers, engineers, educators, and industry professionals from across the globe.

Dr. Folmann’s presentation at AES Europe 2026 highlights Sonic College’s continued engagement with cutting-edge research in immersive audio, sound design, and audience experience.

As immersive technologies continue to shape the future of live entertainment, research such as this helps bridge the gap between technical development and human experience—ensuring that new audio technologies serve not only the ears, but also the emotions, bodies, and communities of their audiences.