Acoustic Ghosts
2025 / VR Research & Interactive Development
Institution
Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Case Site
Royal Victoria Dock, London
Research Field
VR / Spatial Audio / Point-cloud
This research addresses the dilemma of "archival silence" in digital soundscape collections by proposing performative recontextualisation in Virtual Reality (VR). Utilizing London's Royal Victoria Dock as a case, it transforms static sound records into inhabitable and performable events.
The system couples a hybrid spatial-audio pipeline (Resonance Audio & Steam Audio)
with a unique interaction grammar
—including finger-snap awakening and ripple-based diegetic cues.
Instead of teleportation, the "Aetherial Swim" mechanic allows a rhythmic, effort-based glide through an "ocean of memory," reinforcing spatial understanding and bodily agency.
The project shifts the paradigm
from "acoustic accuracy" to "embodied plausibility,"
offering a balance between historical indexicality and emotional resonance.
from "acoustic accuracy" to "embodied plausibility,"
offering a balance between historical indexicality and emotional resonance.