ADM-OSC: an industry initiative for communicating object-based audio data

Spatial and immersive audio has become increasingly mainstream, presented in concert halls and more recently (e.g. Apple: June 2021) through music streaming services. There is a diverse ecosystem of hardware and software controllers and renderers in both live and studio settings that would benefit from a standardized communication protocol. Since 2021 a growing group of industry stakeholders has been working to develop ADM-OSC to fill this need. ADM-OSC proposes a standard for transmitting position data for object-based audio by implementing a namespace in parallel with the Audio Definition Model (ADM), a metadata standard developed in the broadcast industry. Open Sound Control (OSC) is a well-established data transport protocol developed for flexible and accurate communication of real-time performance data. By leveraging these open standards, we have created a lightweight specification that can be easily implemented in audio software, plugins, game engines, consoles, and controllers.This paper will discuss the design principals of ADM-OSC, developed to meet the needs of specific stakeholders and use cases. The core address space for position data is described, including a solution for representing both physics-based and cinematic distance. Proposed extensions to the next version of the specification will add comprehensive support for additional broadcast use cases, including different types of audio content (e.g., different languages or assistive descriptions), user interactivity, and cues for reducing channel count. We conclude with an overview of future ADM-OSC development, including next steps in bringing together ideas and discussion from multiple industry partners.