When Lucid Air arrives next year, it will be the first vehicle to offer Dolby Atmos audio inside. The automaker EV today announced that its Surreal Sound system will offer passengers the surround sound experience as a standard feature within the Air Grand Touring and Air Dream Edition models. It will be an optional addition to the Air Touring and Air Pure finishes. In addition to the luxury EV, you’ll also need a high-resolution music subscription that offers access to Dolby Atmos Music – like Tidal, for example. Lucid Motors is planning to launch six months of free streaming with the Grand Touring and Dream Edition.
The Lucid Air is equipped with a configuration of 21 speakers that is capable of handling the Dolby Atmos directional surround sound. The front, rear, side and height speakers are positioned around the interior of the car so that passengers can “feel” the movement of everything they are hearing. The Surreal Sound system also employs directional acoustic signaling for notifications, warnings and other alerts. For example, things like blind spot detection and unfastened seat belt warnings come from the direction of the potential problem. To adjust the speaker configuration for Atmos, Lucid adjusted it using the famous Capitol Records Studio C as a reference design.
“The big difference is the placement of the suspended speaker,” said Lucid Motors Senior Vice President of Design Derek Jenkins. “Along the inner pillars of the vehicle, we carefully place the upper speakers to optimize the entire upper surround area. Alignment with the upper and lower speakers is critical to creating this dimensional experience. “
Although Dolby Atmos has been around for years, it mainly existed as an A / V platform inside the living room. In 2019, Dolby introduced its engaging, high-resolution Dolby Atmos Music audio platform on services like Amazon Music, Deezer and Tidal. Of course, you need a more expensive high-fidelity streaming plan to access the content and a speaker system capable of making the most of your investment. However, with Atmos Music, Dolby was ready to give listeners access to audio with greater clarity and depth outside the home.
“The main entertainment in an automobile is mainly music,” explained Dolby Laboratories music director Tim Pryde. “Until Atmos Music, having Atmos in a car was something we had experienced, but it never really worked because there was no content like there is today.”
Pryde said that although Dolby has been working with automotive audio since the 1970s and 1980s, the company’s efforts have mainly focused on improving the overall sound quality of both content and stereo units. Dolby Atmos can give you the feeling of being inside everything you are watching or listening to, virtualizing dimensional audio through a surround sound setup or even with a single sound bar or speaker. This becomes a totally different scenario when you are in a small enclosed space like a car.
Lucid Motors
“With a car, you have a booth that allows you to have these discreet speakers placed around you,” said Pryde. “They can really provide an immersive experience because you are literally in the middle of them.”
And of course, now that the vehicles are equipped with more screens, the Atmos is a viable option for movies, shows and games during a ride. Lucid Motors plans to exploit this as the automotive industry moves towards autonomous driving.
“As we move more and more towards the power steering and then the total autonomy of the vehicle, the opportunity for streaming video, games and any other type of visual content will only increase as if it were inside your home” explained Jenkins. “We are looking at that kind of future through the opportunity that Atmos offers for immersion.”
The first deliveries of Lucid Air should start in the second half of this year. The basic Air Pure model starts at $ 69,900, while the Air Grand Touring, the cheapest finish to offer the Dolby Atmos standard, starts at $ 131,500. The company is currently accepting reservations online and at “studios” in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, San Jose, Newark (California), Miami and West Palm Beach.