An investigation into the modelling of virtual objects with sound vibration properties

In order to increase the power of virtual environments, several different attempts have been made to incorporate sound interactivity in some form. For example, several implementations of virtual environments permit the playing of a previously recorded soundfile upon the triggering of an associated event. The user may then, for instance, perceive the sound of a creaky door when one is opened. However, a relatively more effective system for entertaining joint audio and visual response may be derived by using physical modelling techniques. We have undertaken a pilot investigation in which virtual objects are implemented in a manner such that they implicitly possess vibration properties analogous to that of the real world. Consequently these objects are able to vibrate in response to stimulus. The vibrations may be visually perceived as, for example, wave patterns on the surface of an object, and acoustically perceived by mapping values representative of surface displacement to a loudspeaker. This paper discusses the current state of the project.