For many, the name “Nokia” evokes a sense of nostalgia, recalling the days of the iconic 3310 phones and their memorable ringtones. While Nokia seemed to fade as smartphones took over, the Finnish tech company is proving it’s far from finished with innovation.
READ: US regulates AI-generated voice calls
Based in Espoo, Nokia recently announced a groundbreaking achievement: the world’s first phone call utilizing spatial audio. This advancement promises to enhance real-life interactions through three-dimensional sound.
How Does Nokia’s Spatial Audio Work?
On June 10, 2024, Nokia President and CEO Pekka Lundmark, alongside Finland’s Ambassador of Digitalization and New Technologies, Stefan Lindström, showcased the company’s IVAS codec technology.
The Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS) technology enables callers to experience real-time audio as if the person they’re speaking to is physically nearby. Unlike current smartphone calls, which compress audio and result in flatter, less detailed sound, IVAS provides a richer, more dynamic audio experience.
This technology is designed to work across various connected devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers, offering a more realistic and engaging sound quality.
Nokia is striving to make IVAS a global standard, collaborating with multiple operators, chipset manufacturers, and handset makers. If successful, this technology could significantly enhance 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,” said Stefan Lindström.
Pekka Lundmark added, “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.”
Lundmark, who was present when the first 2G phone call was made in 1991, is once again at the forefront of a potential revolution in electronic communication with spatial audio.