Jacob Hedges
Sound Designer | Interactive Audio Specialist | PhD Researcher in Immersive Audio
I'm a Sydney-based sound designer and researcher focused on real-time, interactive audio for XR and games.With over eight years of professional experience using tools such as Pro Tools, Reaper, Unity, Wwise, and FMOD, I cover the entire audio pipeline, from sound design and composition to recording, voice direction, and mixing. This practical work is informed by my PhD research into immersive and interactive audio in collaboration with Dolby Australia.Check out my demo reels and publications below for a better idea of what I do and how I can help with your projects
Interactive Audio Reel
My greatest passion is creating immersive interactive experiences through sound. This reel showcases some of my work using mostly Wwise and Unity for audio implementation across various interactive projects.
Traditional Audio Reel
I've been working in the Audio Engineering / Post Production space across a number of sound studios in Sydney for more than eight years. This reel showcases a range of audiovisual works I have collaborated on as Sound Designer, Recording Engineer, Composer and Mixing Engineer.
Implementation Deep Dive
Take a deep dive into some of the unique audio systems and implementation approaches I developed using Wwise for the VR music experience Belly of the Beast
Research & Academia
My PhD research, in collaboration with Dolby Australia, aims to define best practices for immersive audio design in Extended Reality (XR).
My work integrates creative practice with mixed-methods evaluation, using creative practice based research, qualitative analysis, and quantitative statistical methods to connect academic theory with professional practice.Alongside my PhD, I am a Research Assistant and Casual Academic at the University of Technology Sydney. As a Research Assistant, I have contributed to psychoacoustic studies, including co-designing sounds for Zero Emission Buses on the AVAS Sound Design project. I also teach post-production sound design using Pro Tools in my role as a Casual Academic.
Belly of the Beast
My primary creative research output is 'Belly of the Beast', an interactive VR music experience that redefines the audience's role by allowing them to manipulate a dynamic spatial composition in real-time. The project has been showcased at prestigious international events including SXSW Sydney 2024 and the NIME 2025 International Conference, with its development detailed in a paper presented at the the Sound and Music Computing Conference (SMC 2025) at the IEM in Graz, Austria.
Publications
My broader research interests focus on how audio impacts immersive experiences in XR and digital games, examining factors like spatial fidelity, user agency, and multimodality. My work on these topics has been published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society and Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. I have also presented my findings at international conferences such as the Audio Mostly Conference (AM '24) and the IEEE Immersive and 3D Audio conference (I3DA 2023)
Contact
For project inquiries or to discuss a collaboration, please get in touch via email at:
[email protected]You can view my CV by clicking on the button below.