Philip Stevens explores object-based media and how the BBC is using it to enhance the experience for viewers with hearing difficulties
By Philip Stevens
Published: July 9, 2020
Philip Stevens explores object-based media and how the BBC is using it to enhance the experience for viewers with hearing difficulties
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Philip Stevens explores object-based media and how the BBC is using it to enhance the experience for viewers with hearing difficulties
https://www.tvbeurope.com/audio/sound-thinking-bbc-helps-audience-to-hear-the-details title=Share via Email class=share-email>
Behind the lens of the BBC's Casualty Hearing impairment affects around one in six people in the UK. And when it comes to watching television, that can cause speech to be jumbled and competing sounds can make listening far from comfortable.
BBC One's long running hospital drama Casualty on 11 July will feature a character who has a hearing impairment. But, in addition to a thoughtful and informative storyline, the episode will allow those viewers with hearing difficulties to watch the programme on an internet-connected device with the benefit of object-based media.
But, just what is object-based media?
Lauren Ward It is a system that provides viewers with personalised audio content via the internet, explains Lauren Ward. She has been working with BBC's Research and Development department while pursuing her PhD at Salford University. With such a large proportion of the population experiencing hearing problems, I believe there's a responsibility for anyone in the broadcast chain to try to make content as accessible as possible.
She continues, As part of my PhD work, I have been able to study how new broadcast technology can be used to make a better experience for a broad range of people. In fact, using object-based media is a method of creating an audio mix that helps people who may not have hearing difficulties to appreciate audio content in situations where there is high background nois; for example on public transport or with children running around. So, it can benefit a whole range of viewers.
Vital elements Put briefly, the process involves placing the audio element of each scene in the programme in order of importance and ensuring the vital portions are easy to hear. In that way, the viewer can interact with what is being shown on screen. Dialogue is, of course, at the top of list, but in a dramatic setting, such as a hospital in Casualty, elements such as a heart monitor bleeping (or not) would be a high priority. Everyday background noise would be near the bottom of the list. Each of these elements are the objects' in object-based media.
Of course, immersive sound has been around for some time and is starting to be used more widely in sporting broadcasts to make the viewer feel part of the crowd, says Ward. But what we are doing here is going beyond just separating the commentary from the crowd - which is simply a binary application - and providing a much higher level of personalisation and complexity in situations where there is a dramatic soundscape.
Good practice With all of that in mind, how does the workflow for creating such a production work? According to Ward, it has less to do with technique, and more good practice. It relies on each of the parts of the sound being recorded as cleanly as possible without any spill between tracks. We talked about the objects' earlier, and during the post-production these objects are tagged with metadata. This metadata, which describes different aspects of the object allowing how it is reproduced at point of service to be varied, is what facilitates the viewer being able to personalise the content
Although the various tracks are used in both the broadcast mix and the object-based version, they are applied in different ways and at different levels.
Ward says that creating such clean tracks might be something with which the industry will have to grapple as object-based productions, be that for accessible content or immersive sound, become more widespread.
This is the second such programme - the first was also from the Casualty series - with which Ward has been involved, and earlier lessons were learned which made this upcoming episode easier to complete.
Last time it took a great deal of time unpicking the mix that had been created for the regular programme, and then putting it all back together based on object-based media techniques of defining importance. In fact, it took more than ten hours of dubbing using Pro Tools. This time, using the experience of the first episode, the whole dubbing process was able to be completed much faster.
Ward believes that producers will need to bear in mind the needs of those viewers with hearing difficulties as part of the way forward to improve their experiences. And that may require training on how to map out the audio needs and how to integrate them into the normal workflow.
The production tools likely won't change dramatically, Ward says, but what we will have to change is how we plan and think about post production.
Added experience As already mentioned, this episode of Casualty features an individual with hearing loss. Around a third of the episode will feature the story of this character. I was able to work very closely with the production team and we recorded some of the dialogue as it would have been heard by this individual to illustrate the effects which hearing loss and hearing aids have on how an individual hears the world. Some of this audio was created by making recordings using a binaural dummy head [pictured], which was wearing hearing aids programmed to similar settings as the character would have. The aim was to create a soundscape which reflected the aspects of that character's hearing
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
A Down to Earth, All Too Relatable Hero: Cashero' Teaser ...
01/12/2025
In the rush to deliver content to every screen, many broadcasters overlook one of the most crucial steps in the workflow: format and frame rate conversion. Get ...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Researchers worldwide rely on open-source technologies as the foundation of their work. To equip the community with the latest advancements in digital and physi...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
Philip Stevens explores object-based media and how the BBC is using it to enhance the experience for viewers with hearing difficulties
