Imagine sitting at your desk and hearing the sounds of a tropical forest all around you. You hear a tropical woodpecker in the distance to your right and turn your head. Now it is in front of you. It is as if you are really there.

You’ve just imagined Portal, an app that answers the question, “What’s the point of Spatial Audio?” Apple’s 3D immersive audio trick is seriously impressive, but who wants to listen to music like that? And why would you want to make it sound like movie audio is coming from your iPad even when you turn your head? Portal uses the same 3D head tracking technology to make it feel like you’re actually sitting in the middle of a relaxing soundscape.

“Our surroundings have a profound impact on our thoughts and feelings, but we are often limited by the environment we are in, other than the color we paint our walls, the pictures we hang, or the pot(s) we put in,” Portal’s Stuart Chan told Lifewire via email. “Portal changes all that by using immersive technology to virtually transform your surroundings and truly make you feel like you are in the middle of one of the most peaceful and awe-inspiring places on earth — helping you focus, sleep, and relax.”

A funny thing happened when I first tried out Chan’s Portal app. The surround sound effect was impressive and the audio was top quality. But it wasn’t until I started moving my head that I got the full effect. The owl hooting in the distance to my right actually felt like it was to my right. But even that wasn’t the strange part.