OpenAL

OpenAL (Open Audio Library) is a cross-platform audio application programming interface (API). It is designed for efficient rendering of multichannel three-dimensional positional audio. Its API style and conventions deliberately resemble those of OpenGL. OpenAL is an environmental 3D audio library, which can add realism to a game by simulating attenuation (degradation of sound over distance), the Doppler effect (change in frequency as a result of motion), and material densities.

Not to be confused with OpenAI.
OpenAL
Original author(s)Loki Software
Developer(s)Creative Technology
Stable release
1.1 (installer 2.1.0.0) / November 2009 (2009-11)
Written inC
Operating system15 operating systems
See: Supported platforms
TypeApplication programming interface
License
  • Sample Implementation: Proprietary since v1.1, LGPL before v1.1, BSD in early versions
  • "OpenAL" trademark: unclear, held by Creative Labs, Inc.
Websitewww.openal.org 

OpenAL aimed to originally be an open standard and open-source replacement for proprietary (and generally incompatible with one another) 3D audio APIs such as DirectSound and Core Audio, though in practice has largely been implemented on various platforms as a wrapper around said proprietary APIs or as a proprietary and vendor-specific fork. While the reference implementation later became proprietary and unmaintained, there are open source implementations such as OpenAL Soft available.

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