I know that nowadays there are some physics engines pretty advanced, capable of very complex simulations.

Are we at a point in technology where if, for example, we were to simulate a rock being dropped on the floor from a certain distance, the simulation can calculate the shape and weight of the rock , the air resistance experienced during the fall, the density of the floor where the rock will fall onto, and all the other thousands of factors involved, and from those things “calculate” the sound that the rock will make when hitting the floor, and then reproduce it?

Is there such a thing? Are we there yet? If not, is it something feasible?

  • @iceonfire1
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    1010 months ago

    Is it feasible? Sure. The limit on this kind of calculation is basically how much detail do we need to add to the environment (i.e., can we make the model) and how high resolution does the sound wave need to be (can we calculate it given finite compute resources).

    To get something that roughly sounds like a rock? Not difficult to model or calculate, if we make some reasonable assumptions.

    The sound of a wet towel thrown in the water during a hailstorm? Uhhh that’s a tough one.

    Simulating sound uses classical mechanics governed by the wave equation, which is well-understood. In terms of CPU power, the calculation to propagate a simple sound wave (wavelet) could probably have been done on a TI-89 calculator from high school.