VivaTech x IRCAM by Ircam amplify

An Auditory Odyssey

An extraordinary listening experience took place the other night in an extraordinary venue – IRCAM’s newly renovated Espro concert hall, situated 16 metres below the Place Stravinsky in the heart of Paris. 

The invitation-only evening, co-hosted by Viva Technology and Ircam amplify, was an auditory odyssey to the far shores of technological innovation.

Frank Madlener, director of IRCAM and president of Ircam amplify, and Nathalie Birocheau, Ircam amplify’s co-founder and CEO, took the stage to discuss “the power of sound in the age of emotional and artificial intelligence.” They then invited the audience, comprising some 150 business leaders, to sit back and immerse themselves in a musical selection that Ibrahim Maalouf created using Ircam amplify's spatial audio technology.

Next up were Viva Technology’s co-presidents Maurice Lévy and Pierre Louette, and managing director François Bitouzet, who treated the audience to a sneak preview of the eighth edition of VivaTech, which they promised would be “memorable”. How is artificial intelligence changing our lives? How can we use technology to sustain life on our planet? Those are merely two of the conference tracks that will be explored at Europe’s biggest startup and tech event 22-25 May in Paris.

The evening’s program, with MC duties being handled by tech evangelist and podcaster PPC,  continued with Bénédicte Le Nindre, UX/UI program director at Groupe Renault, and Nicolas Misdariis, research director and the head of IRCAM’s STMS Lab / Sound Perception & Design team. They presented their work to develop sounds for Renault’s future electric vehicles alongside composer and electronica pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre.

While the evening was all about the auditory, for a moment it was also about the olfactory. With scent strips in hand we were invited to smell and then listen to Viktor&Rolf’s Spicebomb fragrance, a mind-expanding, olfactory-auditory collaboration between, Viktor&Rolf, L’Oréal and Ircam amplify. According to a recent study conducted by IFF and Ircam amplify, sound increases the purchase intent for a fragrance more than 40 percent in an e-commerce context.

The evening concluded with an emotional live performance by DeLaurentis, an artist and producer of “electro-cinematic” music. With a minimal rhythm track for accompaniment, her singing voice gradually expanded into an electronically generated “virtual choir”. 

Make no mistake: you had to hear it to believe it.

Randall Koral