BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Date iCal//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.20.2// METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:calendar.3499.events_uoft_date.0@www.cinema.utoronto.ca CREATED:20260115T154740Z DESCRIPTION:\nWhen and Where: \nThursday, February 12, 2026 3:00 pm to 5: 00 pm \n IN-222E \n I\nis College \n 2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto, ON M5S 1J 5 \n\nSpeakers \nHarry Burson (University of Illinois Chicago) \n\nDescrip tion: \nThis talk will explore the contemporary phenomenon of immersion th rough an analysis of Dolby Atmos, the premier format for “immersive” cine matic sound. Introduced in 2011 as an audio counterpart to 3D films, Atmo s is characterized by an increasingly complex, fluid, and all-encompassi ng theatrical soundscape. I argue that the sensation of auditory immersion in Dolby Atmos has been conceptualized as a productive site where listene rs have an aesthetic experience of the otherwise insensible, ubiquitous d igital media that suffuse contemporary culture. This talk will trace the h istorical turn from early stereophonic sound’s representational strategies of mimetic realism to twenty-first century immersive sound’s shifting ori entation towards an affective, overwhelming experience of undifferentiate d sensation. Compared to formats designed around static channels, as an i mmersive format, Dolby Atmos presents an increasingly flexible soundscape defined by relational movement of audio objects rather than the fixed son ic space. I argue that Dolby Atmos’s formulation of digital audio objects interacting on an imaginary, modular substrate owes much to the theoretic al grounding of object-oriented programming in the field of computer scien ce. My talk traces the development of the audio object from its conceptual origins in NASA’s pioneering VR sound technology up to the immersive soun d of Atmos. Through the analysis of films released in Dolby Atmos, includ ing Life of Pi (2012) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), I show how the concept of immersion is based in fantasies of the listener's ability to h ear a global, networked space of flux and multiplicity. I challenge domin ant visual approaches to questions of representing and perceiving digital media, while remaining skeptical of how the aesthetics of immersion favor sensorial immediacy over a critical understanding of digital media.Harry Burson teaches course in film and media in the English Department and the Moving Image Arts Program. His research explores the intersection of digit al and aural cultures, with a particular interest in the history of sound technologies, platform studies, immersive media, sound art, AI voice\ , and film theory. His writing appears in October, Media Fields, and Sou nding Out. He holds a PhD in Film & Media from the University of Californi a Berkeley. At UIC, he has taught courses in film history, sound studies , games, apocalyptic cinema, and Chicago on film. \n\nContact Informati on: \n Denise Ing cinema.studies@utoronto.ca \n\nSponsors \nCinema Studies Institute, I\nis College \n2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto, ON M5S 1J5 \n\nCa tegories \n LecturesResearch \n\nAudiences \n Alumni and FriendsCommunityF acultyGraduate StudentsUndergraduate Students DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260212T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260212T170000 LAST-MODIFIED:20260115T154740Z LOCATION:2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto, ON M5S 1J5 SUMMARY:Sensations of Ubiquity: The Immersive Sound of Dolby Atmos URL;TYPE=URI:https://www.cinema.utoronto.ca/events/sensations-ubiquity-imme rsive-sound-dolby-atmos END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR