Pekka Lundmark, the CEO of Nokia, is treading into uncharted territory with a new kind of telecommunications called’s immersive audio and video. This is an edge-cutting invention that seeks to change our experience in voice call interactions by introducing three-dimensional sound thus making them more real in nature. The company made this announcement on Monday.
“What we have shown is the future of voice calls,” declared Lundmark who also had a remembrance about his presence at the first historic 2G call way back in 1991.
The majority of current smartphone calls are monophonic – that means all audio elements are compressed together delivering flatter and less-detailed sound. On the other hand, unlike them, the latest immersive technology introduces 3D audio enabling callers to feel like they are sitting next to each other while having conversations.
“This represents a quantum leap over today’s smartphones and PCs which still use monophonic telephony audio for live voice calling,” affirms Jenni Lukander, President of Nokia Technologies.
An initial demonstration of this breakthrough was held with Stefan Lindström, Finland's Ambassador of Digitalisation and New Technologies. Lukander elaborated on the standardization process, noting that network providers, chipset manufacturers, and handset makers are on the path to integrating this technology into their products.
"This is now becoming standardised ... so the network providers, chipset manufacturers, handset manufacturers can begin to implement it in their products,” Lukander said.
With a common smartphone and over a public 5G network, Nokia did it incredibly. The technology goes beyond personal calls but could also reshape conference calls by separating participants’ voices in space according to their location as revealed by Jyri Huopaniemi, Head of Audio Research at Nokia Technologies.
This new technology is one that even modern smartphones can have two microphones for and be able to transmit the spatial characteristics of a call in real-time, according to Nokia executives. This development forms part of the forthcoming advanced 5G standard paving way for significant future licensing opportunities. However, mass adoption may take some years.
In this pioneering endeavour, Nokia is not only redefining voice call experiences but also leading the way in audio-visual interactions in the digital era.
