The driver door closing, fingertips slowly stroking the passenger seat, leaving behind a soft grazing noise. A whir accompanies the activation of the parking brake. In an ASMR video on the new Audi R8 GT*, these small sounds come to life in “close-ups”.
ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response. Meridians in humans are associated with organs, bodily functions and the psyche. Sounds and their associated images can stimulate these pathways and trigger positive physical reactions and pleasant feelings. The most well-known of them are a tingling scalp and a positive feeling often described as a “shiver of delight”. What exactly is happening in the body has not yet been fully researched. It’s assumed that the parts of the brain that process rewards and emotional excitement are being stimulated through neurotransmitters.
Audi R8 Coupé V10 GT RWD: Fuel consumption (combined): 15.0-14.9 l/100 km; CO₂ emissions (combined): 341-339 g/km; CO₂ class: G
Audi R8 Coupé V10 GT RWD: Fuel consumption (combined): 15.0-14.9 l/100 km; CO₂ emissions (combined): 341-339 g/km; CO₂ class: G
In ASMR videos, the emotions associated with a sports car can be fully conveyed – well beyond the typical engine sounds. In combination with detailed images, a material’s quality can become a kind of acoustic close-up. Example sequences from the new video include clicking a button in the cockpit and stroking a surface with a hand – all shot with calm, slow, close-up camera motions and macro shots. Philip Hollerbach produces videos for the Audi Communications department: “Especially for a supercar like the Audi R8 GT*, the ASMR style is perfectly suited to bring the value of the materials to life in unknown dimensions – and above all, very emotionally.”
Philip Hollerbach, film producer for Audi Communications
The first intentional ASMR videos were created around 12 years ago. Today, “ASMR” is one of the most commonly searched terms on YouTube.
“ASMR creates an intimate ambiance that conveys safety and security. We play with this concept of intimacy and proximity that underlies ASMR, and through the dramatic composition of our video, we generate a certain degree of excitement that’s experienced physically, which is typical of ASMR,” said the art director Sara Khosrawi, who supported the Audi R8 GT* video experience as an ASMR expert. In addition to its ASMR style, the video was produced in spatial 8D sound that can only be fully heard with headphones. This creates the feeling that the sound is coming from all sides. “It’s as if the sound is fully enveloping you,” Hollerbach said.
ASMR videos generate positive emotional experiences. In the video on the new Audi R8 GT*, detailed images of things like buttons are combined with acoustic close-ups in a way that creates an entirely new dimension of audiovisual product communications. This allows for even smaller sounds – beyond the typical engine sounds – to emotionally convey the sportiness and material quality of the R8 GT*.
