Conference facilities very often suffer with poor audio clarity due to incorrect microphone positioning. We’ve all been to a conference where somebody in the audience poses a question to the speaker, and nobody can hear what they have asked. Sometimes the organisers provide mobile mics to pass around the auditorium, but this is clumsy, time-consuming and depends on the questioner holding the microphone properly for it to work. Then someone else in the audience starts to answer the question, or make a supplementary point without a microphone, and the problem starts all over again.

Audioscope is a system which allows the chairman to instantly zoom a “virtual” microphone onto any seat in the auditorium, allowing the questioner to be heard by everyone. If someone else in the auditorium has a point to make then another “virtual” microphone can be zoomed onto their seat as well, allowing a valuable discussion to be heard by everyone. Audioscope reduces time wasted while microphones are passed round the auditorium and eliminates problems with people holding the                                                                       microphone incorrectly. The system uses an array of microphones mounted in a dish above the auditorium (together with a                                                                      wide angle camera) which allows the chairman to zoom virtual microphones into several different seats simultaneously,                                                                       through a simple graphical touchscreen interface. The system works so seamlessly that the conference can focus on the real                                                                        subject without worrying about the audio logistics.

Broadcast reality TV shows are a popular form of entertainment, many of which rely on mobile microphones to give the audience their chance to join in. Main participants can be wired with microphones, but audience participation is often key to the entertainment value. Boom microphones held above an audience and manipulated from the sidelines are clumsy and can fail to catch impromptu remarks, but with Audioscope a virtual microphone can be given to any audience member within a fraction of a second. Alternatively, Audioscope can “autotrack” the loudest voices within an audience to ensure they are heard clearly.