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Freya Shaw

Founder of Immersion Sound Studio

Freya Shaw, a registered blind musician, sound designer, and programmer, founded the Immersion Sound Studio, founded in 2023, and backed by Innovate UK, Santander and Innovative Entrepreneurs. The studio specialises in producing music and binaural audio for commission and developing accessible software for visually impaired users.

Profile image of Freya, founder of Immersion Sound Studio, standing in front of wallpaper featuring silhouettes of rabbits. Freya is a young white woman with shoulder-length wavy dark blonde hair, looking thoughtful. She’s wearing a cream pinstriped blazer over a shiny green shirt, and absolutely rocking it

Red Nought Limited

Immersion Sound Studio and Red Nought first connected when Freya and John attended SLUSH in Helsinki in 2024, a founder and investor networking event in 2024, this was made possible by the Global Business and Innovation Programme (GBIP), who funded the trip. There, they discovered a shared commitment to accessible and user-friendly game engine design. Over the course of the trip, they developed ambitious plans to combine their technologies and expertise to create a high-quality, accessible game engine. This collaboration led to the commercial launch of the Hodr Engine, which they continue to enhance with the goal of making it the most inclusive engine available. Designed for users with limited coding experience and those with additional requirements, all built by a small but passionate team dedicated to making development inclusive for all!

The Red Nought logo features a high-contrast design set against a black background. At the center is a silhouette of a Post apocalyptic humanoid figure wearing goggles in front of a jagged city skyline. Two mechanical arms extend from either side of the figure. Beneath the image, the name RED NOUGHT is written in bold capital letters. "RED" is in white, while "NOUGHT" is in red

Awards

A peaceful cloudy landscape of the University of Huddersfield campus, where Immersion Sound Studio was founded and Hodr Engine was first developed. On the left side of the scene is a converted textiles mill made of yellow-brown brick with tall windows, architecture commonly found in Huddersfield. A canal runs alongside it, its reflective surface partially covered with green algae. To the right of the canal is a footpath, surrounded by a lush variety of greenery with flowering purple blooms, and a large weeping willow with trailing branches overhanging the water. In the distance on the right, a modern white building with a glass facade juts out over a pedestrian walkway.
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority logo features a simplified geometric rose on the left, with the words West Yorkshire Combined Authority on the right in dark blue, set against a white background
The University of Huddersfield logo features the text University of Huddersfield – Inspiring Global Professionals in black font
The Innovate UK logo features a blue rectangle containing the letters UK at the top and RI at the bottom, with an additional UK positioned separately to the side of the rectangle.
University of Huddersfield Logo.png
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority logo features a simplified geometric rose on the left, with the words West Yorkshire Combined Authority on the right in dark blue, set against a white background

Enterprise Grant (2025), awarded by the University of Huddersfield’s Enterprise Hub to support student-led start-ups in launching their business.

Innovative Entrepreneurs Award (2025), a grant awarded to Freya as one of three winners of a two-minute pitch presentation to a panel of judges.

Innovative Entrepreneurs Programme (2025 to 2026), an accelerator programme for start-up businesses in West Yorkshire, run by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. It provides business support, legal guidance, office space, and the opportunity to take part in the programme’s pitch competition.

Unlocking Potential Award (2023 to 2024), grant and business support awarded by Innovate UK to begin the Hodr Engine’s research and development during its Version 1 and Version 2 prototype stages.

Vice Chancellor’s Scholarship (2023 to 2025), awarded by the University of Huddersfield to support the Hodr Engine’s prototype development during a Music Technology MA by Research.

Previous Presentations

A landscape featuring the interior of the Richard Steinitz Building, the music technology centre at the University of Huddersfield. The scene is of a bright, spacious atrium, with light stone flooring and white walls. Blue and grey cushioned seats are arranged around the room’s perimeter near marked doors. A picturesque floor-to-ceiling glass wall at the far end of the atrium provides a view of a church outside, and a glass roof floods the environment with natural light. Walkways lined with automatic doors on the upper levels are visible from the ground floor, and are enclosed with glass balustrades.

Leeds City College

2025

Spillkonventet

2025

Innovation Festival

2025

Electric Spring

2025

SLUSH

2024

The Leeds City College logo features a circle in the top left, surrounded by a C-shaped figure. The background features various geometric shapes in different colours. At the bottom, the words Leeds City College are displayed.
The Spillkonventet logo features two orange cuboids stacked at an angle. The top block, which is shorter, features the word Spill in a black Fitbit-style font, while the bottom block features the word Konventet. On the right is a Black man with blue hair wearing an orange shirt. On the left is a white man with ginger hair, a beard, and black glasses, wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans. Between them is a blue rectangle with the text 17.18.Juni 2025. In the bottom left corner, there is a white figure with black hair and a slight smile.
The SLUSH logo features the word SLUSH in white, set against a black background made up of disconnected shapes.
The CeReNeM logo features the word CeReNeM in red, underlined by a bold red bar
The STEMFEST logo features a red letter S with a beaker inside, a green T with three white lines resembling a circuit board, an orange E with a cog in the bottom left corner, and a blue M with dashes on the left side resembling a ruler. The word FEST appears in black capital letters

STEMFEST Bradford

2024

The Innovate UK logo features a blue rectangle containing the letters UK at the top and RI at the bottom, with an additional UK positioned separately to the side of the rectangle.

A guest presentation to first‑year sixth form students in the Games Design Department. Freya delivered a session inspired by the Spillkonventet talk, introducing students to accessible game design and Hodr Engine’s ongoing development journey

A gaming convention hosted by the Viking Film Centre in Oslo. Freya co‑presented a talk on accessible game design with Theo Nogueira, Audio Director at Snowcastle Games, where they showcased a demo game developed by the Hodr Engine, where a volunteer successfully completed the game live

Hosted by Innovate UK and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Freya took part in a panel discussion on the West Yorkshire start‑up ecosystem and shared her experiences of receiving support from Innovate UK and the Innovative Entrepreneurs Program.

An audio technology symposium held during the Electric Spring festival at the University of Huddersfield’s Music Department. Freya presented her MA by Research in Music Technology, which involved developing the Hodr Engine prototype, and provided a live demonstration of the engine.

A founder and investor networking event held in Helsinki and funded by the Global Business and Innovation Programme. Freya and John were selected to join the UK cohort and delivered short pitches at the British Embassy to investors and fellow founders, introducing the early development stages of the Hodr Engine and Infinitaria.

A three‑day convention for primary and secondary schools across West Yorkshire, hosted in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Freya co‑hosted a stall at the event, spoke to students about using spatial audio for accessible game design, and demonstrated an audio game as an example of blind‑accessible gameplay.

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Immersion Sound Studio

3M Buckley Innovation Center

Firth Street

Huddersfield

HD1 3BD

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