Nokia made the world’s first phone call with spatial audio
The word “Nokia” probably brings to mind a lot of nostalgia. You and most Filipinos might remember fiddling with their 3310 phones and hearing their iconic ringtones.
Nokia faded into obscurity as smartphones dominated the cellular phone market. However, the Finnish tech company is not “finished” innovating (pun intended).
READ: US regulates AI-generated voice calls
The Espoo-based firm announced it made the world’s first phone call with spatial audio. The company claims the breakthrough will bring “people together for real-life interaction with three-dimensional sound.”
How do Nokia’s spatial audio calls work?
Nokia Makes World's First Phone Call Using '3D Spatial Sound' https://t.co/LqmuM4dE9X
— PCMag (@PCMag) June 10, 2024
On June 10, 2024, Nokia President and CEO Pekka Lundmark and Finland’s Ambassador of Digitalization and New Technologies Stefan Lindström demonstrated the company’s IVAS codec technology.
Immersive Voice and Audio Services allow people to hear people on the other line in real time as if they were nearby.
In contrast, current smartphone calls compress audio elements together. As a result, they sound flatter and less detailed.
IVAS codec technology allows spatial audio across various connected devices. Consequently, it will bring more realistic and dynamic sound quality whether you’re using a smartphone, tablet, or computer.
Nokia has also been working on turning IVAS into a global standard across multiple operators, chipset, and handset manufacturers. Soon, this technology could improve digital audio conversations worldwide.
“The three-dimensional sound experience makes interaction more lifelike and engaging, bringing a wealth of new benefits to personal and professional communication,” Stefan Lindström, Finnish Ambassador of Digitalization and New Technologies, said.
“We have demonstrated the future of voice calls. This groundbreaking audio technology takes you to the caller’s environment creating a spatial and massively improved listening experience for voice and video calls, offering significant benefits for enterprise and industrial applications,” stated Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark.
Lundmark was present in the room where the first 2G phone call was made in 1991. He and Nokia might revolutionize electronic communication again with spatial audio.
