Modification of the Acoustical Properties of an Auditorium by Means of Virtual Reflectors

in open stage theatres the audience surrounds the stage which means that a large section of the audience is faced with the back view of a speaking actor. Human speech is directional in nature which results in the intelligibility of speech in sections to the rear of an actor being poor. The use of virtual reflectors as means of overcoming this problem is proposed. The results of computer simulations are presented which demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique.