AR audio app Fields allows users to create their own 3D soundscape

A new audio AR app from New York developers Planeta is now available to download on the App Store. 

The free app transforms your environment into a 3D soundscape through your headphones, experiencing different sound pitches and volumes by walking around the space.

The sound changes are represented in the app by a variety of glowing orbs (think Pokemon Go technology). You can also use the iPhone’s built-in microphone to create your own ‘scenes’ – or soundscapes – in the app’s world. A sound you make will transmit through the microphone and loop in the position where you created the noise. If you move while recording, the resulting sound will move along the same path, making for a dynamic installation.

“Fields is a way of making and experiencing three-dimensional sound installations,” says Chris Maier, who developed the app alongside Nick Dangerfield, Vicki Siolos, and Dylan Romer. “When you’re laying out sounds spatially, you can create relationships between sounds and ideas that you couldn’t otherwise create in the comparatively narrow confines of a stereo mix. So I’m really interested to see how people might explore narrative storytelling with it.”

Try it out for yourself – download the iOS app here

A version of this article originally appeared in Pitchfork