Holophonic Sound?

A friend referred me to a sound clip of a holophonic sound the other day.

I was intrigued. I was confused. I was captivated. I had to look over my shoulder and make sure someone wasn't pulling a prank on me.

Haha, it was just my creepy room mate!

That's not really what happened, but I was still creeped out.

Because of how the sound is recorded, it sounds realistically as if it's moving around your head. Eerily realistic. My friend remarked on how convincing it sounded, and mentioned it would be great if incorporated into video games more.

Essentially, it's surround sound, but only with two speakers, one for each ear, instead of four and a subwoofer. One of the earlier devices used to record holophonic sound clips was a set of two microphones set up in casings that mimic how the human ear gathers sound.

Like reverse earbuds

I haven't looked much into the topic, but I'm sure there has already been quite a bit of research done on the topic in relation to video games, already. Feel free to look it up on your own, if you're so inclined!