Apple has announced that iOS 16 will allow iPhone users to scan the shape of your ear to create more accurate spatial audio.
Everyone’s head is different, so everyone experiences sound in the real world slightly differently.
For example, when a sound is behind you, the precise geometry of your ear folds reflects the sound from that angle in a unique way. And when you hear the sound that reaches your ear in that particular way, your brain interprets that the source of the sound is behind you.
The unique shape of the wearer’s head and ears determine their HRTF (Head related transfer function). When we talk about spatial audio, there is a limit to the accuracy of the sense of “position” or “3D” of the audio if we do not take this parameter into account.
Until now, obtaining HRTF measurements was impractical for consumers due to the need for sophisticated equipment, but advances in computer vision are making the technology much more accessible.
Each person needs their own personalized HRTF. This involves accurately measuring each person’s ear, which is not easy without specialized equipment.
With iOS 16, Apple uses the TrueDepth front camera to scan your head and ears and create a custom spatial audio profile from that data.
Apple isn’t the first company to offer custom HRTFs based on a computer vision model of the ear, but its addition to iOS will make this technology much more widespread than ever before.
As a last resort, this should result in more accurate digital spatial audio. This means that a sound 3 meters from your left ear will sound more like it should at that distance, making it easier to differentiate a sound 2 meters from your left ear, for example.
This will join existing spatial audio capabilities in Apple products, especially when used with AirPods, which can track head movement for a head-tracking spatial audio experience.
There’s also another potential benefit of this feature, as they could use it on other devices (like a hypothetical VR headset, for example).
