Spatial audio to find devices and Airtags?

[wills11]

Not sure if I necessarily like having the audio for a movie sound like it's coming from the device as opposed to "being in" the scene, but...

One cool and wildly over-engineered use for the spatial audio would be to find iPhones or Airtags—rather than actually beeping, the audio could come through the AirPods. That way if the actual speaker is obstructed—or the device doesn't have one—the user could "hear" when one's getting closer, as well as what direction the device is in.

Also a plus for finding objects in a noisy environment—or a very quiet one, like a library.

 

[yasas]

The possibilities 🤯

Apples ecosystem with the U1 Chip and the rumored accessories as well as their supposed satellite plans makes you really wonder about the potential experiences that might be waiting for us..

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Yet another person who doesn't understand what spatial audio is.

Let's say there's a guy playing a trombone directly in front of you. You turn 90 degrees to the right. Now most of his instrument's sound is directed at your left ear.

Let's say you need to go to the bathroom. So you turn your back to the trombonist and walk away. His instrument sound gets smaller and smaller. And all of it is behind you.

That's spatial audio.

Without spatial audio, it would sound like the trombone is still in front of you even if you are standing at the urinal, the way it would be if you were listening with headphones or earbuds.

Note that the videogame industry are heavy users of spatial audio. This isn't something that Apple whipped up on their own in their secret Cupertino labs last month.

The spatial audio of AirPods Pro is intended to replicate fixed audio sources, just like in movie theaters or your own home theater setup. Or the real world.

If you are wearing normal earbuds, they (the sound source) move with you. That's not actually how the world works.

 

[bobmans]

Yet another person who doesn't understand what spatial audio is.

Let's say there's a guy playing a trombone directly in front of you. You turn 90 degrees to the right. Now most of his instrument's sound is directed at your left ear.

Let's say you need to go to the bathroom. So you turn your back to the trombonist and walk away. His instrument sound gets smaller and smaller. And all of it is behind you.

That's spatial audio.

Without spatial audio, it would sound like the trombone is still in front of you even if you are standing at the urinal, the way it would be if you were listening with headphones or earbuds.

Note that the videogame industry are heavy users of spatial audio. This isn't something that Apple whipped up on their own in their secret Cupertino labs last month.

The spatial audio of AirPods Pro is intended to replicate fixed audio sources, just like in movie theaters or your own home theater setup. Or the real world.

If you are wearing normal earbuds, they (the sound source) move with you. That's not actually how the world works.

This. Good explanation!

I can’t believe how many people think that it’s supposed to make it sound like the sound is “coming from your device”. It’s only anchoring the sound to your device and creates a surround-sound effect like in a movie theatre.