One of the conventional methods of auditorium design employed by acousticians involves the construction of a scaled card model of an auditorium.  Key sound reflecting surfaces are finished in silvered paper and a laser used to explore the paths that sound rays would take.

This exercise is expensive in terms of the time required to construct the base model and the subsequent labour required to make progressive modifications in response to the iterative analysis and design process.  It is also difficult to transport the model for discussion with project teams based in other cities or countries.

Using our lighting expertise Hanson Associates has developed LHAser™ , a proprietary software routine that simulates the laser analysis process.  Real time movement of a virtual laser source within a rendered 3D computer model is possible using a normal web browser interface, allowing us to “transport” our models electronically and share them with architect and client.  Unlike the conventional method, primary, secondary and tertiary reflections may be identified using different colours so that the entire early reflection patters can be analysed simultaneously.

The software was originally developed to analyse focuses and reflection patterns for the egg-shaped Supreme Court of New Zealand.  With it, we were able to demonstrate various surface finish scenarios to the architects while attending design meetings in Wellington.