An ideal digital sound library

• intuitive

  to let the user concentrate on the artistic application of the sounds

• visual

  to reinforce the identity of and the relationship between sounds

• three-dimensional

  to employ one's natural three-dimensional perceptual and organizational abilities

• of considerable size

  to present a large number of sounds nearly simultaneously

• flexible

  to have no constraints on the content of its database, and to be able to adapt to each user's preferences

This research describes a prototype of this ideal sound library. It was created in a virtual environment because virtual reality technology is well designed to meet these ideals of intuition and flexibility.

• It gives the user the sensation of being immersed inside the sound library
• It gives the user the ability to move around its elements and to hear them from different perspectives
• It shows how the database is organized and how to find elements of it at a glance