Bobby McElver is a sound designer and spatial audio researcher for theatre, dance, and installation. A former member of the theatre company The Wooster Group, he has toured internationally for over a decade and presented works in many major cities. As an artist-engineer, McElver’s research focuses on spatial audio technology — specifically Wave Field Synthesis and “sound holograms” — and applying the technology in context of an artistic work. In 2018 he fabricated a Wave Field Synthesis array with 372 loudspeakers based on research at EMPAC, where he was an artist in residence. One of the most extensive WFS arrays in the world, it allows him to place sound accurately in 3D space, creating “holophones,” or sounds that float and move in physical space.He is an Associate Professor at University of California San Diego where he heads the M.F.A. program in Sound Design for Theatre & Dance.