An American company called Sonaptic has announced a new technology in Japan, supposedly allowing for true multi-channel sound reproduction on cellular phones and portable audio players. I’m somewhat confused about the whole thing—such as why an American company would announce something like this in Japan first, or how the hell the setup works—but it apparently revolves around three algorithms: the “Near Field Algorithm” to make sound be “closer,” the “Volumetric Algorithm” giving sound more of a “spread” effect, and finally the “Dynamic Ambient Processing Algorithm,” allowing audio sources to have “distance.” Sounds like a good time, but I’m interested to know how they plan on reproducing these effects on conventional headphones and speakers.
I’ve always been really damn skeptical about alleged “3D sound” technologies, and this is no exception. But one point about this system is that it requires dedicated hardware in the end-user’s device (DoCoMo’s line of 901i phones, for example), so I’m thinking this is more than just your standard “we added some phase effects so it’s now 3D sound” fare.
Sonaptic announces 3D technology in 901i [Keitai Watch]
Official Homepage [Sonaptic]
